Things That Make You Smile Part 1

[MrCinatit]

Memories of old Reds victories.

The Kid.

The moon and the stars and the planets and everything else out there.

A very good run.

A very good song.

Gas.

When the words I am writing come together in plerfect harmony.

Great scenes in great movies.

"Discovering" a very good, obscure movie (today's feature: Sunshine)

Getting a lot of what I wanted to accomplish after a night's work.

Spending time with my family - and my parents' dogs.

[SunDeck]

The sound, sight and smell of waves rolling up on the Carolina shore.

Hitting a golf ball so cleanly that I don't feel the impact.

My kids' artwork.

The feeling of having completed something right the first time (which happens a little too rarely for me.)

[15fan]

Hearing from my parents & / or siblings about all the snow on the ground and how cold it is where they are.

Then hanging up the phone and going outside without having to worry about a jacket or sweater.

[TeamCasey]

The quiet time on a lake before the world wakes up.

A bass coming up out of the lily pads for a well placed hula popper or rubber frog ...... even when you don't get him.

The spontaneous tidbits of information that come from TeamMorris' son. Out of the blue he'll tell me something about the rain forest or something about Egypt. The teachers must have has attention .... lord knows I no longer do. LOL

When TeamMorris' son sings.

[*BaseClogger*]

I almost forgot- walking into a Skyline/White Castle

(I only get to go to those places a couple times a year)

[guttle11]

The wood/lacquer smell you get walking into a high school gym

Teeing off as the sun rises (I hate waking up that early, but I love it at the same time)

Walking into any arena/stadium and smelling the hotdog/stale beer combo

The first night sleeping with the windows open after a long, stuffy winter

[919191]

The smell of a baseball glove.

[TeamCasey]

Originally Posted by 919191

The smell of a baseball glove.

Puppy breath beats that!

[Rojo]

When I know everyone in the bar and like them (and even when I don't).

[Ltlabner]

Being in an airport very early in the morning before it gets busy.

[Rojo]

Originally Posted by Ltlabner

Being in an airport very early in the morning before it gets busy.

Interesting. I've never thought to put "airport" and "smile" together.

[BUTLER REDSFAN]

From Screwball....

A Bengals win.

A Reds win.

A Bearcats win.

You don't get to smile much, do you?

[Ltlabner]

Originally Posted by Rojo

Interesting. I've never thought to put "airport" and "smile" together.

I like to fly, whether it be in private aircaft or commercially. The security dance can be a drag, and the dolts trying to charge off the plane at the same time can drive you mad.

But generally speaking, I like the calm and stillness of the airport at 5 or 6am when there's not a lot of people and things are quiet. Maybe it's because it's supposed to be a bee-hive of activity and isn't? Maybe it's the whole calm before the storm thing? Maybe it's the confluance of thousands of people who will likely never again cross paths?

Airports are facinating places.

[15fan]

Originally Posted by Ltlabner

But generally speaking, I like the calm and stillness of the airport at 5 or 6am when there's not a lot of people and things are quiet. Maybe it's because it's supposed to be a bee-hive of activity and isn't? Maybe it's the whole calm before the storm thing? Maybe it's the confluance of thousands of people who will likely never again cross paths?

Airports are facinating places.

Last fall, my 4 year old woke up at 2:00 am on a Wed w/ a major case of insomnia. We had a house full of guests. After it became obvious that she wasn't going to sleep, I put her in the car and tried driving around I-285, thinking that the car would lull her to sleep.

(As an aside, it was weird being on 285 and not seeing a single car in either direction. 12 lanes+ of empty at 3am.)

As we got to the south side, she said she wanted to go watch the planes at the airport. So we pulled into the parking deck, drove up to the roof, and waited for planes to come in.

None did. I figured we'd get some UPS or cargo planes or something. But not a single plane coming in on a clear night at the nation's busiest airport.

So we went inside to walk around. No bags on any of the baggage claims (about...20? 24?) at Hartsfield. None of the shops were open. No one was any of the ticket counters.

My kid wanted some water, so we set out to look for a vending machine. Couldn't find one anywhere on the ticketing / baggage claim concourse. They only exist on the departure / arrival concourses.

The only signs of life were a handful of custodians / maintenance workers. As we walked over to a restroom to make a stop before hopping in the car & heading home, I realized that I knew the maintenance guy at the entrance to the restroom. He's one of our maintenance guys at work, and he works a few nights at the airport to make some extra $$$. He was shocked as could be to see me standing there with my 4 year old at 3:45 am on a work day. We chatted for a few, then hopped in the car to head home.

An empty I-285 and an empty Hartsfield airport. Surreal doesn't even begin to describe it.

[GoReds33]

Chuck Norris.