There's Nothing Like...

- going home
- a hug from a teammate when the whistle blows and you know you all won because of each other
- a look across a crowded room
- missing a tackle and hearing the crowd go "awwww!"
- or, making an impossible catch and hearing the crowd go "whooaaaaa!"
- finishing a song, especially one that'd been floating around your heard for a couple years
- taking your shoes and socks off after a loooonnnng day working outside
- the first plunge into a cold swimming pool without dipping your toe in first
- the moment someone gets baptized and comes up out of the water
- running the Bleep Test (against someone better than you so you just can't let yourself stop)
- the Florida Gator football team charging into the Swamp from the tunnel (AAAHHHHH!)
- a tearful talk with Momma
- holding hands with the boy you like (it's my thing)
- executing a run perfectly in a piano piece - you could be alone, it doesn't matter
- hearing my Daddy and Aunt Ann talk about food, the excitement in their voices
- multiple-hour roadtrips alone (again, my thing)
- the crack of a baseball bat
- Louis Armstrong's voice
- clean sheets, a big dump and a rock-hard alibi (Kids In the Hall reference...)
- the shudder that comes from thinking back on something he did
- opening the mailbox to find a REAL letter from someone who cared enough to WRITE it, STAMP it, and SEND it
- smelling rain before it comes, watching it fall, and hearing it on your roof and windows
- being chased through pine trees in pitch-black darkness by a herd of angry cows
- the smell of dew on cowcrap in the morning (yes, the very same cows, and yes, I mean I like it)
- when someone calls and says they put your CD in and it put them in a good mood
- getting wrapped in a warm blanket in a cold hospital room
- realizing how alive you are when you reflect on the fact that you're playing rugby while you are in fact playing it
- blocking a kick with your FACE and scoring a try :)
- the happy squeals of children's laughter
- when your dad says he's proud of you
- riding a bike down a steep hill and not braking at all (weeeeee)
- when the boy I'm hitting on laughs at my stupid jokes
- crossing stuff off the list
- the tug of a fish's bite on your line
- spontaneously sitting down at a piano and entertaining a group of unsuspecting bystanders for the sport of it
- feeling satiated