Raindrops on roses
and whiskers on kittens,
bright copper kettles
and warm woolen mittens.

It's déjà vu.  I've done this before.  But surely my list of favorite things has changed since déjà vu.  Hasn't yours?
Animated movies haven't been my favorite things for about 30 years, and now I am again a fan of Snow White and her Dwarfs, Beauty and that Beast, and Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother.  Miss Addie Sue calls me her Fairy Godmother.  There's some truth to it and it's related to her baptismal day.
Did I mention the Fox and the Hound?  And since Christmas lights have popped onto the season, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Reindeer have taken center stage.  'Tis the season, dontcha know.

Brown paper packages
tied up with strings --
these are a few
of my favorite things.

Dots, dots, dots!  How I love to make dots.  They are my favorite things.  Dots are very old items in the world of journalism, and I made them for many years but they disappeared from my life in 1996 when I switched from Apple computers to IBM.  My dots died with the Apples and an old workhorse printer.  Dots returned to me only in 2005, like a miracle.  How I've missed them.
I'm referring to the process for screening photos and putting half tone tints into display ads.  Yes, it's a journalism thing, and I'm probably the only person in the field to call it "making dots."  They allow me to do my photos and advertisements exactly as I want to do them. 

Cream colored ponies
and crisp apple strudels,
doorbells and sleigh bells
and schnitzel with noodles.

The saints and angels in my office are included in my favorite things.  I have surrounded myself - in framed photos or sculpture -- with people I love and people who love me.  It's a small office and the numbers are not gargantuan, but they are big enough to bring happiness and contentment to my working days. 
When I look up into their eyes, I see love and acceptance both coming and going and I am comforted.  They see my good will and I see theirs.  If you want to know the names of the angels and saints in my office, stop by some time and I'll be happy to make introductions.  I bet you've already made the acquaintance of some of them.

Wild geese that fly
with the moon on their wings --
these are a few
of my favorite things.

Good books are my favorite things, and good books for me are those that teach me the truth of things without a lot of fluff.  I prefer truth to anything else, even when it hurts, for I can massage my heart and mind to love, but the truth of things should never be massaged.
In recent months I am finding truth in Salt of the Earth, The Ratzinger Report, Truth and Tolerance, Called to Commu-nion, and God and the World.  I am invigorated by clarity of thought and mind and straightforwardness of the author, who happens to be a fan of strudels and schnitzel with noodles. 

Girls in white dresses
and blue satin sashes,
snowflakes that stay
on my nose and eyelashes.

Another of my favorite things is proper order, which you don't always find in the shoe space at the bottom of my closet or in my silverware drawer.  How do spoons get into the fork department?  And how in the world can I end up leaving the house wearing mismatched shoes?  Shame, shame, such disorder.
And how in the world did we end up with upside down Christmas trees as the latest fad?  Some people go out of their way to create disorder.  Do you know that the word 'diabolical' means 'to create chaos'?  It's true.  So my Christmas tree will be placed on its proper end, thank you, and I'll keep looking for socks and warm woolen mittens that belong to each other. 

Silver white winters
that melt into springs --
these are a few
of my favorite things.

Have I mentioned children?  Girls in white dresses and boys in blue jeans?  Even as adults, my children are my favorites.  How about grandchildren?  Can they be mentioned too often?  Not if I'm the editor of the Victoria Gazette.  How about that Child who came to earth 2,000 years ago and was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger?  I can mention Him too.   Happy Birthday, Good Lord, and thank you for all of my favorite things.