Gravy, gravy, gravy

Check yes or no

While I was having dinner with a group of friends, the server leaned over the table, porcelain bowl in hand. “Mashed potatoes?”

“Like someone would actually say no to that,” I said.

“I would never say no to that,” Brenda said.

“Or more cheese. Or tea,” I said. “Agreed,” Brenda said. “What are you two talking about?” Annie asked, breaking her conversation with Marie.

“Things we’d always say yes to,” I replied.

We each stared blankly, compiling our mental lists.

Things I will always say yes to

Card games, board games Porches, porch swings Chocolate gravy and biscuits White gravy and biscuits Gravy of any kind (except giblet gravy, if giblets can be identified) Bread and oil or butter Black pepper

Sleeping beneath a quilt Anything that nays, bleats, barks, meows, bellows or chirps The snooze button

Faded blue jeans

A threadbare gray sweatshirt Tom Selleck

A late-night movie, especially a Western

Anything written by Elmore Leonard, Samuel Clemens or Edgar Guest

Mowing a lawn

Being asked whether I have formed an opinion

Being asked whether a meeting should be adjourned

Cornbread dressing with an obscene amount of sage

Subway sandwich with an obscene amount of black olives Old photographs Postcards

Carol Burnett Nicknames, especially when incongruous (“Tiny” for a 2,000-pound bull)

Homegrown tomatoes, okra or collards

Farm sales with Uncle Ronnie