"These are a few of my favorite things...."

I hope these simple things give you as much pleasure as they give me.

· James Taylor songs

· blue hydrangeas and purple irises

· skinny cappuccino from Arabica, in my own Dansk porcelain mug (I'm trying to save the planet one coffee cup at a time.)

· buying bread at Standard Baking Company early on a sunny, Saturday morning

· reading and looking at the beautiful photos in the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks

· strawberries and blueberries, freshly picked

· weekend cooking -- planning our evening meals is a weekend highlight

· Two Lights State Park, in winter

· sunset from the dock on Mooselookmeguntic Lake, Rangeley

· the tip top of a ski mountain, in the dead of winter, crystalline tree branches, North Pole-like

· John Denver's Greatest Hits (Rocky Mountain High is my favorite all time song)

· O, The Oprah Magazine -- I read it cover to cover, last page written by Oprah first

· the Cliff Walk at Prouts Neck, Scarborough

· big orange pumpkins, the shape of Cinderella's coach

· Cooking Light magazine (before their "makeover" in 2009) -- inspires me to exercise, eat healthy and cook

· reading in my bed before going to sleep, candles burning, shades open to a full moon over the field or listening to rain gently hitting our sky lights

· Starbucks Javachip ice cream

· the sparkling ocean on a summer day, talcum powder sand under my toes

· The Food Network -- Barefoot Contessa and Giada deLaurentis

· a blazing fire at a beamed ski lodge or at a rustic camp on the lake

· Maine Home + Design magazine; aesthetically beautiful and lets me dream

· memories of Paris with my Danish college roommate - Baguettes, ham, French cheese, and green apples in a basket have never tasted as good as they did in the gardens of Versailles.

· sunshine

· Evergreen Cemetery early on a Sunday morning in January, no one there but me

· puddle boots

· apple picking at "The Brothers" orchard in Alfred (a.k.a. Giles Family Farm)

· the first snowfall of the season

(photo: Turks & Caicos)

Robert Redford

In Out of Africa and Horse Whisperer, one of my all time favorite movies, Robert Redford played the same character. Before realizing this, I wasn’t particularly a Robert Redford officianado. I hadn’t seen all his movies. I knew I liked the man, that he was decent and giving and was about more than just acting. I loved what he’s done at Sundance promoting would-be film makers by giving them an outlet to come together, create movies, and awarding the outstanding which may help them get their start. I love his Sundance catalogue – the items sold, the jewelry, the photos, the karma which emanates from his short paragraph he writes on the first page of the catalogue that is so telling of who the man is.

We sometimes confuse actors with their characters, and I’m not sure if my admiration of him comes from him, what little I truly know, or from these two characters he’s played. In both Out of Africa and Horse Whisperer, he was a loner. He had his fingertip on the pulse of the natural world and the wild. He walked the plains of Africa and had an innate sense, from patience and practice, of when a lion would spring, and when she wouldn’t. In Horse Whisperer, he rode the ranches in Montana and could connect and read horses in a way many humans can not. Due to his calm, intuitive nature, he could read people and animals, and to this I am drawn.

He was matter-of-fact with uptight Karen in Out of Africa whom he enlightened by showing her one could not possess things or people; they were fleeting and weren’t for the possessing. We are all just visitors, passing through. He was matter-of-fact with extremely uptight journalist, Annie, in Horse Whisperer. He said few words but in those few, he taught these women so much in a gentle, unpretentious way. He helped them see and learn for themselves.

He so understood these women before many words were spoken. He had a knowing and ability to read people all the way to their core. His type can be unnerving, but I’m drawn to them. They can see through pretense and false fronts. In a quiet way, he elicited in these women a change in their lifelong ways of being. They were drawn to him – his honesty, his gentleness, his civility and respectful nature. He didn’t try to change or get things his way. He would never try to control or take over, and yet, there was never a question who the strong leader was. He led himself and his life in both movies precisely the way he wanted. He was completely true to himself and his nature and he, in so doing, found fulfillment in his days.

I am drawn to his characters because I understand them, and I strive to be more like them or find them in real life.

(photo: Shelburne Farms, Vermont)