This is the next instalment of my Special Moments, Magic Memories series for the 2022 A to Z Blog Challenge.
As we all know, wow moments don’t come along every day, otherwise they’d hardly generate a wow response. Instead, if we’re fortunate, we will get little bursts of joy that come into our lives and it’s up to us to enjoy the boost they bring.
So today’s post is more by way of ”favourite things” however randomly they occur.
- Flowers in the garden
- Wandering through an Open Garden or a plant nursery
- Cheerful colours and craft on display
- Lorikeets and other birds in our (or others’) trees
- A Jabiru by a local roadside
- A flight of rainbow bee eaters
- Thoughtful help when you need it
- A delicious dinner at home or in a restaurant
- A clear blue sky with fluffy white clouds
- Surf crashing on the beach and the smell of ozone
- Pelicans floating on a river or flying in formation
- A cuddly cat on a cool day
- A night at a fancy hotel and dinner (a wow if you win it and we did!!)
- A hug from, and a chat with, a friend
- Rain that makes the garden happy
- The smell of the earth after rain
- Uexpected kindnesses
- A bunch of flowers (especially peonies)
- Discovering a new author
- A joke or video that makes you laugh out loud
- The crisp feel of an Autumn day
- Breezes on a hot summer’s day
- Seeing a turtle swim close by when snorkelling 🙂
- Australia’s wide open skies, spaces and vivid colours
- A happy movie
- A delightfully cosy B&B with a fireplace
- A kangaroo hopping down the road (but not when you’re driving)
- A drive in the country
- A glorious sunset
ULURU
And since we can hardly leave U behind without a genuine Wow Moment: visiting Uluru (aka Ayers Rock), is certainly awe-inspiring and really has an aura. You can read a blog post I wrote about it previously here on my other blog. We revisited Uluru last year and it truly is magnificant. I think it’s a good thing that they’ve banned climbing the rock both for safety concerns and because it’s important to the local Indigenous people. One unexpected delight I’d be thrilled to see would be rain on the Rock as it’s so unpredictable.
What are some of your favourite things?
Have you been to the rock named Uluru?
Family history across the seas 
loved your list of Unexpected Delights – thank you for sharing them. I’ve enjoyed all your A-Z blogs and will be sorry when you get to Z in a few days time!
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Thank you for your kind comments Valerie. I’ll be delighted to get to Z, I can assure you 😉
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I have been to Uluṟu, twice. One of those places like the Taj Mahal, more awe inspiring in real life than by photos. The first time we were there in the 80s we climbed. The view from the top was magnificent. It was a long way up. Didn’t realise climbing was so dangerous.
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It is certainly imposing isn’t it? We never climbed it mostly because I’m not a fan of heights and edges. I can imagine the view was great – don’t think our girls took a pic. Yes, every year there would be an emergency recovery.
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An unexpected (and a bit wordy, apologies) delight from a few years ago:
So there I am, out the front and up a ladder in the gathering gloom, minding my own business fixing Christmas lights, when these two lorikeets come barreling down Buderim Pines at full revs, nothing on their altimeters but the maker’s name, hard right rudder, full flaps and they’re on the garage gable shrieking at me.
I can recognise defeat when it’s looking me in the eye, so down off the ladder and inside to sort a nice bowl of bread, honey and water. By the time I walk out the back, the feathered fiends are marching up and down on the garden arbour roof and have added whistling to the shrieking.
All well and good. But who’s this on a beautifully flared approach through the trees, over the fence and into a neat no-runway landing on the wheelbarrow and the back of a patio chair? Who but The Magenpies, who immediately go into good-magpie bad-magpie. Beaky Bill gives the evil eye while The Little One warbles a couple of bars that clearly say “Look, we’re asking nice but if you insist…”
Fortunately thinking-ahead packaging of the heart-smart no-fat mince means it’s twenty seconds until they are (almost) eating out of my hand.
I retire exhausted to a beer!
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An unexpected delight from a few years ago:
So there I am, out the front and up a ladder in the gathering gloom, minding my own business fixing Christmas lights, when these two lorikeets come barreling down Buderim Pines at full revs, nothing on their altimeters but the maker’s name, hard right rudder, full flaps and they’re on the garage gable shrieking at me.
I can recognise defeat when it’s looking me in the eye, so down off the ladder and inside to sort a nice bowl of bread, honey and water. By the time I walk out the back, the feathered fiends are marching up and down on the garden arbour roof and have added whistling to the shrieking.
All well and good. But who’s this on a beautifully flared approach through the trees, over the fence and into a neat no-runway landing on the wheelbarrow and the back of a patio chair? Who but The Magenpies, who immediately go into good-magpie bad-magpie. Beaky Bill gives the evil eye while The Little One warbles a couple of bars that clearly say “Look, we’re asking nice but if you insist…”
Fortunately thinking-ahead packaging of the heart-smart no-fat mince means it’s twenty seconds until they are (almost) eating out of my hand.
I retire exhausted to a beer!
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I love your favorite things list. And YES to thoughtful help when you need it. 🙂
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Thanks Mrs Fever. Thoughtful help has been important for me this year with health issues and I’ve been very grateful.
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I was thinking of your comment about the smell of the earth after rain and realised it has rained so much we no longer get that fresh scent of leaves and ground after a summer rainstorm. We live at the bottom of a mountain and you could smell the rain coming with the scent of all the rainforest plants. I suppose when La Niña moves on we will dry out and experience that again.
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I can imagine how fragrant the rainforest smells would be after occasional rain…lovely. We’ve sure had an abundance this year, and you’re right, it’s smelled more soggy than fragrantly pleasant.
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Oh my! Such beautiful flora and fauna. Love the pictures 🙂
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Thanks so much Damyanti.
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Wow… quite a list of wows! Pelicans Is one I’ve never seen in the wild.
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Jeanne, pelicans are in this area though they’ve migrated from a reliable spot we used to visit…I think our regional council disturbed them with river works. Our variety is different from the US version – white with black.
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Planning to try and get to Uluru this year. As for the flowers, I love the way you share the most wonderful flowers on the blog and social media except that the Golden Penda. It is not one of my favourites. I do dislike walking Ralph along local paths covered in bits of flowers worrying I might slip. Plus the yellow is too green for my liking.
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I can see the hazards of walking the dog when there are flowers fallen on the path. As for “yellow is too green”?? Do you think it’s lime rather than yellow? Maybe it’s because the leaves are quite dark and that comes through.
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Your unexpected delights and fav things list is so good… A happy list. I enjoyed ur posts and virtually visited many places this year..
Good day
Dropping by from a to z “The Pensive”
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I’m glad you’ve enjoyed your virtual holiday Afshan 🙂
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