Enjoying life’s simple pleasures

It’s true what they say about simple pleasures: the most unassuming experiences we take for granted, often lead to joy. was reminded of this twice during the weekend.

On Saturday, I was summoned to help people stuck in a river of mud, caused by all the rain.

Bitching and moaning while sloshing through ankle-deep mud, I even cussed a bit because, after all, I had other, much more important, items on my agenda.

But then I remembered how, as a child, playing in the rain and mud was some of our most treasured moments.

Our imaginations turned anything that floated into miniature battle ships, sailing off to war in a race to see who could reach the battlefront first.

Very often running aground, our flotillas needed rescuing, which inevitably resulted in muddy feet, hands and faces.

We had the best of times – and there I was on Saturday, complaining about playing in the mud with my 4x4.

On Sunday, I had my second reminder of a simple pleasure when feeding my little Olive a few chips.

As a child, one of my biggest treats was going to the Wimpy. Not because of the coke floats, or the burgers, or the chips, but because of the tomato and mustard sauce.

Believe me, when I was little, tomato and mustard sauce was a luxury in our house.

But at the Wimpy, I could drench all my food. In fact, I think I used enough to float a small navy.

On Sunday, I gave little Olive her first taste of tomato sauce, and she took to it like a shark to sardines.

Although she only ate two chips, she finished a little bowl of tomato sauce, dipping a chip, licking the sauce off, and repeating the process endlessly.

She looked like a well-fed vampire by the time I had to call halt.

Later, she also had me hopping like a kangaroo when all she wanted was to crawl around in the rain and mud, to the dismay of her mother.

It was really magic to see that two generations later, the simple pleasures are still the true pleasures.

The best, though, is seeing so much of myself in that little angel.