Life's Little Pleasures

I must admit that, usually, life's little pleasures are the ones I enjoy the most.   Sitting by a fire on a cold night; listening to my cats purr; having dogs get excited when they see me; having a horse come to my call; being warm when it's cold outside; being cool when it's hot outside; having a roof over my head; having enough to eat; having plenty of things to read; not worrying about if I have enough money to pay the rent, or to buy cat food.  Life's simple pleasures.
   I'm typing this at my desk, looking west at snow covered mountains.  My female cat is cradled in my left arm - her butt on my left breast, her front paws hanging over my left shoulder, and her whiskers tickling my face and neck.  She is purring.  My male cat is on the cat tree, less than two feet from my reach; he's watching the neighborhood ravens and our friendly squirrel.  Bea is asleep, as far as I know.  (She's a night owl, and I'm an early morning person.) I have a full tummy, I have taken my medications, and I feel at peace with the world - having paid my rent and having a cupboard full of food for the cats, and for human consumption.
  We seem to be in the middle of a heat wave (heavy sarcasm here), as it was all of 11 degrees (F) this morning, and not in the single or negative digits.  We're supposed to have a high temperature above freezing, for the first time in over 8 days - it will feel good.  Bea has to work tonight, and then she's off for 3 days.  If flights are running smoothly tomorrow, I'll pick up the Brittany Spaniels family about 4 in the afternoon, and be back home for supper and a night in my own bed.
   After Beatrice got off work last night, I cooked our New Year's Day meal:  ham steak, black-eyed peas, mashed sweet potatoes, home-made garlic-cheese biscuits, applesauce (which I didn't cook), and fresh baked gingerbread.  We were so stuffed that it was difficult to even move last night - but I had the girls to walk and put to bed and sleep with.   We did laugh hysterically, watching Nedi and Lovey chase each other; and Nedi was playing with his string toy - throwing it around, attacking it, and charging through the apartment, dragging it after him...  It was a nice, pleasant, enjoyable evening.
   I hope this New Year of 2016 is full of such evenings for you.