A Short Compendium of the Memorable
1.H.L. Mencken. 2.Wildflowers in spring on the California desert.
3.Yellowstone before the fire.
4.A 1941 Ford.
5.Before credit cards.
6.Broth.
7.Photos of just about anything before-and-after.
8.Truthful ads without fine print.
9.Socks that fit only one size.
10.Birds.
11.Overheard at the Museum of Modern Art: ``There's a smell of paint in here.''
12.Not being sure, but not being afraid.
13.Canoes.
14.Plain, white T-shirts.
15.Sitting on the subway listening to other people's supposedly private conversations about people you don't know but wonder how they manage.
16.Absolute quiet.
17.Ronald Resch, the man who built a geometrically perfect three-and-a-half story, two-and-a-half ton steel egg in Alberta, Canada.
18.White cake with white frosting.
19.People who give up smoking.
20.My Uncle Charles, who drove a four-door Hudson.
21.The word ``kakistocracy,'' meaning ``government by the worst men.''
22.Pencils.
23.Fats Domino and Chuck Berry.
24.The word ``infra dig,'' meaning ``not consistent with dignity.''
25.Tomatoes picked from the vine and eaten like apples.
26.The guest on a radio program who was asked, ``How old are you?'' and answered, ``You mean right now?''
27.The word ``ferly,'' meaning ``wonderfully great.''
28.Old, talkative men who love to repair things.
29.Any library anywhere.
30.Freshly baked sourdough bread and an empty stomach.
31.Bees and how they live.
32.The power of a simple, declarative sentence.
33.A glass of water you can trust.
34.John Gould.
35.Alec Guinness in ``The Lavender Hill Mob.''
36.Double rainbows.
37.The woman behind me in a cathedral who whispered to a friend, ``Sacred cows make good hamburger.''
38.The practicality of bicycles.
39.My Aunt Ruby, who was a high school Latin teacher.
40.The New York restaurant owner who said, ``Anybody willing to put in 100 hours a week, seven days a week, has it made.''
41.H.L. Mencken again, who said, ``Puritanism - the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.''
42.Lists.
