{"id":390,"date":"2010-10-01T14:28:00","date_gmt":"2010-10-01T14:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/2010\/10\/7-quick-takes-friday-the-7-greatest-things-on-earth\/"},"modified":"2015-01-11T16:25:58","modified_gmt":"2015-01-11T21:25:58","slug":"7-quick-takes-friday-the-7-greatest-things-on-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/barefootandpregnant\/2010\/10\/7-quick-takes-friday-the-7-greatest-things-on-earth.html","title":{"rendered":"7 Quick Takes Friday: The 7 Greatest Things On Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conversiondiary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/7_quick_takes_sm1.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conversiondiary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/7_quick_takes_sm1.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/div>\n<p>This has been a really sad week, news-wise. From the despicable depths our nation\u2019s leaders are sinking to in order to win an election to the suicide of Tyler Clementi, which will undoubtedly ruin many lives connected to the whole sordid affair, it seems like things on earth are spiraling downward. So I\u2019ve decided to remind everyone (and myself) of the wonderful things we still enjoy on our planet.<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">#7<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">Flowers<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">I used to be one of those people who thought flowers were a waste of time and money; you buy them, put them in water, keep the water filled and clean, and then throw them away because they inevitably die. But after becoming a mother and wife and sort of pretending to keep house sometimes, I realize that flowers can turn the gloomiest day upside down. Just a glimpse of a vase full of sunflowers or lilies on a wooden table with the sun streaming through the blinds makes me happy.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">#6<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">Italy<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">I love Italy. I love every single thing about that amazing country, from the breathtaking sculptures and cobblestone streets to the dirty metros and little gypsy thieves. Even if I never get to live there again or even go back and visit, it makes me happy to know that across the Atlantic, millions of people get to wake up every day and be in Italy. Lucky, lucky people.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">#5<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_0NGs2aX56uk\/TKZO8JPdk2I\/AAAAAAAAAKE\/Qe1i0PKa9Po\/s1600\/sienna+chars+kissing.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u00a0<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">Chocolate\n<table class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\">Chocolate is the king of comfort foods. It\u2019s like a hug you can eat. And, also, it\u2019s incredibly delicious in all it\u2019s many and varied forms. I love chocolate.<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\">#4<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\">Art<\/div>\n<table class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\">I mean real art, like the above, not a pile of green candy that some idiot throws on the floor of a museum and calls a sculpture. Picasso, Caravaggio, Michelangelo\u2026you know. Musical and written art, as well. If chocolate soothes the soul, art can save it. (I\u2019m very biased and I consider poetry to be the highest form of art, so I recommend that everyone in the world read Richard Wilbur\u2019s \u201cThe Beautiful Changes\u201d or T.S. Eliot\u2019s \u201cThe Four Quartets\u201d if you want to know what I mean by real art.)<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\">#3<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\">Cheese<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\">\u00a0If chocolate soothes the soul and art saves it, then cheese\u2026well, let\u2019s be honest. Cheese greatly expands the waistline. But it does so in such a delicious and endlessly varied way!<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<p>#2<br>\nWine<\/p>\n<table class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\">There do not exist enough beautiful words in the universe for me to accurately convey how I feel about wine. I firmly believe that wine is God\u2019s way of consoling us as we journey through life upon this earth. And what an exquisite consolation it is.<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\">#1<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\">Children<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_0NGs2aX56uk\/TKZO8JPdk2I\/AAAAAAAAAKE\/Qe1i0PKa9Po\/s1600\/sienna+chars+kissing.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_0NGs2aX56uk\/TKZO8JPdk2I\/AAAAAAAAAKE\/Qe1i0PKa9Po\/s320\/sienna+chars+kissing.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"224\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Yes, it\u2019s true. As difficult as children are and as much as they make me want to lock <span style=\"text-decoration: line-through;\">them <\/span>myself in the closet, my days would be much darker without the light from their eyes and much colder without the warmth from their little embraces.<\/p>\n<p>So the next time you find yourself clicking through the news, despairing of the world we live in, just remember: flowers, Italy, chocolate, art, cheese, wine and children. God still loves us.<\/p>\n<p>(Visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.conversiondiary.com\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Jen at Conversion Diary<\/a> for more Quick Takes!)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This has been a really sad week, news-wise. From the despicable depths our nation\u2019s leaders are sinking to in order to win an election to the suicide of Tyler Clementi, which will undoubtedly ruin many lives connected to the whole sordid affair, it seems like things on earth are spiraling downward. So I\u2019ve decided to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1110,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9],"class_list":["post-390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-quick-takes"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>7 Quick Takes Friday: The 7 Greatest Things On Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This has been a really sad week, news-wise. 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