Gamache had risen before the sun that morning. His little travel alarm said 5.55. He was always delighted when a digital clock had all the same numbers. (pg. 174-175)

It was a tranquil few minutes, and Gamache appreciated every calm moment, pouring rich full bodied café au lait from the thermos into the little metal cup, and burrowing into the paper bag for a flaky croissant, still warm from the oven. (pg. 175)

Gamache is the detective in Still Life by Louise Penny. He is a Chief Inspector with the Sûreté du Québec and is in the small town of Three Pines investigating the death of a long time resident. My comments about the book overall should be up in the next couple of days.

What struck me about these two short passages is that even in the middle of a murder investigation, he can take the couple minutes to appreciate the little things, like the numbers matching or a delicious fresh croissant. My day is a lot less busy than his, I have fewer responsibilities, fewer people looking to me for answers, but do I remember to slow down and appreciate the simple things, to smell the roses so to speak? More often than not, I don’t. I didn’t enjoy the flavor of my coffee this morning, I just gulped it down. I glanced at the birds in the backyard, but I don’t know that I actually paid attention.

I think day to day life would be more enjoyable if I did make a conscience effort to enjoy the “simple pleasures,” actually paid attention to the things that are so easy to take for granted, like the smell of my soap or the warmth of my fuzzy slippers.

What about you? Have there been any little things this week that have brought you a bit of delight?

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Play along. I cheated, but the rules are easy. Grab your current read, open to a random page, and give us two teaser sentences. Remember, no spoilers

My copy was purchased and the above is my honest opinion. I am an Amazon associate.

11 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.