I like fountain cokes and mountain dews in cans, I like sweet tea that crunches and Snapple because of the satisfying plop sound it makes when I open it. I’d recognize that sound in the furthest galaxy. I like cold milk with any dessert and I drink lemonade when I think of it. I like coffee flavored sugar milk when it’s below 50°. I like ice cold water first thing of the morning.

I like bats and swallows, because they dine on mosquitoes.

I used to like okra.

I like bumper stickers (saw one yesterday that said “do you follow Jesus this close?”)

I like people who drive fast but talk slow, and barbeque with cole slaw on the side.

I like standing at the tide line and feeling the sand getting sucked from under my feet.

I like sea turtles and sea otters and sleek seals. Simply put, I like the sea.

I like trucks that aren’t afraid to get muddy.

I like my tattoos, and don’t care if you do.

I like eating crab legs and oysters outside on a wooden deck with never ending bottles of beer.

I like fishing.

I like slobbery, happy, goofy dogs who make no apologies for being glad I’m home.

I like it when the tv is off.

I think everybody needs a fence 🙂

I like witty church signs that make you think the congregation has a sense of humor.

I love Peyton Manning with almost my whole soul. I think we’re the last two people on earth who religiously write thank you notes. Wait–and Cheryl Stranahan.

I like Frank Sinatra’s voice, the Rolling Stones, bluegrass, Kacey Musgraves, Gary Allan, Dwight Yoakum, Miranda Lambert, Ricky Van Shelton, and Patsy Cline. I also like Taylor Swift, but don’t tell anybody. I love Elvis and Aerosmith and sometimes Eminem. I like banjos and fiddles and harmonicas. But nothing makes me happier than catching Dolly on the radio when I’m in downtown Sevierville. I sometimes crave good old church music. 

I believe they should teach the words to the Star Spangled Banner and how to shake hands in school instead of the beginning of the Constitution. I think the bigger the flag, the better. 

I like Rolos and Reese’s Pieces.

When someone dies, you go to the funeral. You go if you didn’t know them, because a person you love loved them. And you hug that person until they let you go. You don’t turn loose first.

I like mermaids and I’ve always liked unicorns. I don’t think there’s an age limit to liking either one. 

I like going to my beautician and growing up and growing old with her. I like how she doesn’t really ask what I want, because she knows I’ll speak up if I want something different (whatcha doin’ with that curlin’ iron? Twist this shit up and pin it, it’s hot and I’m ridin’ with the windows down!) I like to pretend I’m at Truvy’s.

I like manners in young and old alike. 

I like to start my day by making my bed, then picking out my shoes and build my outfit around them.

I find serenity in trees. I disliked the desert because it is so vast and empty, devoid of trees. The only exception was the Saguaros.

I like books about things I’ve never thought about….and books about things I think I know. I like talking about books. I like looking at books. I like books about books.

I like Stephen King and Shakespeare.

I like everything about Scarlett O’Hara, even the bad parts.

I like festivals and fair food and running into people I’ve known all my life. I like live music and people with a beat.

I like sitting on the porch listening to the locusts chanting and watching the dogs and birds and the neighbor across the road pick up sticks. No porch is complete without a rocking chair or swing.

I like picking blackberries and squinting in the sun and worrying about the bull across the pasture.

I like poetry that rhymes.

I like gathering eggs.

I like turkey sandwiches, pickles, sun ripened tomatoes, and barbeque tater chips. But I also like sushi. 

I like the smell of vanilla candles, hay, and suntan lotion.

I’ll eat cranberries in any form.

I like old houses, most especially the ones with the prospect of ghosts.

I like people who laugh without restraint and look me in the eye.

I like decorating for Christmas.

I like the color pink.

The only birthday cake there is comes from Village Bakery, so I don’t have to even say I like birthday cake. You know I do. 

I like riding horses taller than me. Bonus points if they’re grey or black. I also have a soft spot for bays.

I like that people in the South smile at you for no reason other than you made eye contact. I like it when Yankees move down here and notice and want to adapt to our ways.

I love Newport Oregon, Savannah, Charleston, and New Orleans. I like Las Vegas alright. I would live in Idaho or on the Oregon coast if I could only convince the southpaw journeyman I’ve chose to spend my life with. I want to go to Scotland, Ireland, and Alaska before I die. I would also like to visit Paris, but only with a translator, and Australia if they drive out all the snakes.

I would get a massage every single day if I could afford it. I would also pay somebody to worry about my hair and keep up with my phone if I were a billionaire. I would wake up on my private yacht every day on my way to somewhere else.

I love to vote & believe everyone should if you’re allowed. I think that would be my most upsetting priveledge to lose if I ever found myself in prison.

I like rainy days and the crisp bite of autumn when it finally comes.

I like corny jokes and catching crawdads and swimming all day, and thinking about all the days I squandered doing just that.

I love the fantasy of Pinterest and how sometimes it becomes a reality.

I like cows in my Facebook feed better than anything else in this whole world.

I wish you didn’t feel the need to impress us with your life that we all know isn’t perfect. 

I like history and antiques and people who can tell a worthwhile story, like Ray Ball. I love Ray Ball.

I like Amazon, Etsy, & Abebooks. I am thankful for the internet. I like putting things in carts like I’m a ba-zillionaire.

I like playing pinball and skeeball at arcades.

I like napping on Sunday afternoons while golf is on.

Trains make me lonesome, but I like them anyway.

I like things monogrammed.

I hope this brought a tiny bright spot to your day or made you smile and say, “I like that, too!” If it didn’t, you should probably go get your passport updated. Take that any way you want to.