Unpopular things:
Crocs: My shoe of choice, and I wear them all day, every day.
Oysters on the half shell
Covid Shutdown: Hear me out. I didn't enjoy the reasons or how the pandemic response changed who the people in the USA are, but I didn't not mind shut down. I enjoy being at home, spent a lot of time with my family, was able to teach/lecture remotely so our jobs weren't in jeopardy (I would have made more $$ had I been furloughed, though). I got quite a few things "done' around the house (weeded closets, refinished a floor, etc), we went for evening "happy hour" walks, morning coffee-klatch walks (so for both we saw a lot of people out walking, also... some walking with us, just on the other side of the street, etc), had friends over for yard parties (with us on the front porch and them in the yard), stuff like that. I understand shutdown was hard on many people, and while I missed being able to go out restaurants and such, I didn't hate shutdown.
Growing things:
When we left our house in Michigan, DD, who was almost 6, took a maple tree 'helicopter' seed from the front yard. We grew it in pots as we moved over the next few years, and it finally was planted here in our backyard in Maine. It's now a very tall (20ft) maple tree, happily thriving here in Orono. It's 25 years old this year!
A different kind of growing, but the resident 7yo. He experienced a lot of emotional and physical trauma when he was a toddler, and it's had its fallout on him over the years. However, he is developing, thriving, growing emotionally and mentally, as well as physically, and for that I will be eternally thankful.
My bulb garden. Things are finally starting to come up, and just this week my mini-iris bloomed (they look like iris but are the size of crocus). The daffodils are about 6" tall and although the buds aren't opened, I can see the color from the outside of the bud. I can't wait for some color, warmth, and sunshine!
Smells:
Rain on the hot sidewalks and roads in the summer.
Walking in the front door to smell the deliciousness that means DD31 has started supper. She is an awesome cook and can fill our house- and our tummies- with some amazing things!
Fresh, hot coffee. Also the smell of coffee when you first open the can. My mom always called us to the kitchen when she was opening a new can, so we could smell it. I love the way it smells, and it reminds me of being a kid.
Honorable mention to Disney smells- not that they are all awesome, but because they remind me of happy vacations with my family. The water smell (which is why we buy bottled water for making coffee), the smell of burning ruins in Spaceship Earth, the orange smell in Soarin, the chlorine of Splash Mountain on the first few runs each day... you know what I mean, you get it!
️ 
