I remember in about 1982 standing near our house - out by the drive and close to the light post - about 20 feet from my dad.
"This is paradise!"
He said those words as his body was focused toward the the pasture and pond, as the sun was moving toward the afternoon horizon, in a white t-shirt and tan work pants, after a day's list of outdoor chores were mostly checked off, and as he was pausing - no, stopping - to digest where he was and how his day had gone.
He said those words out loud and to a male transitioning slowly from a child to a man. He said those words to one who initially thought, "Huh?". He said those words to the cosmos and it thought, "here is a man who has done well - he appreciates and sees the beauty around, he knows that perception is greater than keeping score, he knows that love is intertwined in all."
He said those words because he knew that love works best when it intertwines the brain, the heart, and the soul. He said those words because he also knew that love toward these three ends is partially fed from the physical senses and partially fed from the gut-reaction.
He didn't intend to say those words to stick - but they did.
As I sit on my porch in the early morning, solitary hours with keyboard, coffee in a loving cup, birds singing, dog wagging and snoozing, memories far and near flitting about, and processing my thoughts -- I can't help but think,
"This is paradise!"