- The rich combination of warm sunshine and cool breeze on bare shoulders
- Riots of fuchsia bougainvillea blossoms on overgrown shrubs
- Sharp-witted wordplay
- The heady smell of plumeria that envelops the senses when stepping off the plane at the Honolulu Airport
- When my pinochle partner passes just the cards I need for a run AND a hundred aces
- Warm, tropical rain that pours from the sky as if a tap has been opened
- Scrubby, grassy roadsides aglow with yellow wildflowers flying past my car window on road trips
- Saguaros in bloom like fat, prickly brides
- Fireplaces that crackle and whoosh like old women muttering
- Making lists
Kate Redmon is one of those people who always seems to learn things the hard way.