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low backhand that arcs into the opposite corner right by the service line. It's just the antidote I need for all the other backhands that go out of control, and I say to myself, Hey, I can do that—it's easy. It's like the pleasure of throwing a perfect spiral when I toss a football, and I notice how little effort it takes. I wouldn't enjoy it half as much if I could do it all the time.

       “A little of what you fancy does you good.”

      —Marie Lloyd

      THINGS TO DO

      In Your Mind's Eye

      Pollyanna and Dr. Norman Vincent Peale were right: Research shows that optimism and the power of positive thinking can affect everything from health to job success and life span. Several researchers have reported that pessimists who tend to blame themselves for their misfortunes are more susceptible to disease. The pessimist's typical attitude of helplessness may be associated with weakening of the immune system's resistance. Or pessimists may simply neglect their health.

      A psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, Martin Seligman, suggested that our initial, automatic reactions to minor misfortune can be self-defeating. The technique of “cognitive therapy” involves identifying these automatic, negative thoughts and replacing them with ones that are more realistic.

      And who knew better than Dr. Norman Vincent Peale? His wife Ruth, that's who. In the 1950s, Peale was dissatisfied with his manuscript for a book, then called The Power of Faith, and threw it in the trash. His wife retrieved it and took it to a New York publisher, where an editor changed the word “faith” to “positive thinking.” The result: ninety-eight weeks as America's best-selling nonfiction book, and an inspiration for generations.

      So if you catch yourself saying things like “I know this won't turn out well,” “I'm sure he's going to disappoint me,” etc., try replacing them with thoughts like, “I'm going to do by best to make it come out well.” You'll be giving your body and soul a boost!

      Animal Crackers

      I'm a forty-year-old lawyer who goes looking for animal crackers whenever my day gets too stressful. They're the perfect size and shape for eating in one quick bite, they melt in my mouth, and they're sweet, but not too. But more than that, they take me back to my childhood, when life wasn't complicated, I didn't have difficult choices to make, and all I wanted was animal crackers and Mommy. I guess that's why animal crackers are so comforting to me now. When I was much younger, I used to talk to the animals, but now I just bite off their heads. My favorite is the gorilla, who looks like a very contented Buddha.

       “Animal crackers and cocoa to drink, That is the finest of suppers, I think; When I'm grown up and can have what I please I think I shall always insist upon these.”

      —Christopher Morley

      THINGS TO DO

      Melting Away Stress

      If you're a very important attorney—or a very unimportant one—you can nibble on animal crackers at your desk all day, coaxing out those little bits from the box that looks like a miniature circus animal car. That woven string handle is so you can carry it outside your briefcase. And if you are a lawyer with a social conscience, look for Endangered Species animal crackers. Every time someone asks you for one, you can give them a little lecture about how the real animals need to be saved, not eaten.

      If that doesn't appeal to you, you can recall another childhood pleasure with these easy-to-make brownies. They can furnish a week's worth of lunch bag treats, or disappear in a day or two with coffee or a big glass of milk. Thanks, Mom.

       Nostalgic Brownies

      2 ounces unsweetened chocolate

      ¼ cup butter

      1 cup sugar

      1 egg

      1 teaspoon vanilla

      ½ cup all-purpose flour

      pinch of salt

      ½ cup walnuts, broken into pieces or chopped

      Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan, and line it with baking parchment or waxed paper. Butter and flour the waxed paper.

      Melt the chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat, stir well, then lightly stir in the sugar, egg, vanilla, flour, salt, and nuts.

      Spread into the pan and bake for about 30 minutes, until center is set. Do not overbake, or brownies will lose their chewy texture and become dry.

      Remove pan from the oven and cool on a rack about 5 minutes. Turn out onto the rack and peel off the paper. While still warm, cut into squares with a greased knife. Makes 16 brownies.

       Whatever the seasoning, whatever the dish, whatever the occasion, do it generously and with love, for that in the end is what the shared experience of cooking and eating is all about.

      —Elizabeth Rozin

      Family and Friends

       ’Tis the gift to be simple . . .

      —Shaker song

      Desert Hoops

      An old man in Chile once told me about a simple pleasure he and his sister invented for themselves when they were children. They lived in an isolated house far out in a flat and windy desert. Some mornings when they were bored and had nothing to do, they would make hoops out of brightly colored paper and place them on edge on the desert sand. The wind would roll the away, and the children would watch them disappear towards the horizon. At midday, when the wind reversed its direction, the children would watch for tiny colored specks in the distance—the hoops were coming back, careening past the house towards the opposite horizon. Sometimes the boy and his sister would make hoops for several days in succession, setting up a brilliant multicolored traffic of wheels across the barren land.

       “I said to the Wanting Creature inside of me, ‘What is this river you want to cross? Do you believe that there is some other place that will make the soul less thirsty? In that great absence you will find nothing. What we seek is here already . . . Just throw away all thoughts of imaginary things not yet come and stand firm in that which you are.’”

      —Kabir

      THINGS TO DO

      Homemade Play Dough

      This preschool staple is easy to make in batches at home. It's worth keeping an assortment of bottled food coloring for projects like these, even if you don't use them often for cooking.

      1 cup salt

      ¼ cups water

      2 teaspoons vegetable oil

      3 cups all-purpose flour (not self-rising)

      2 tablespoons cornstarch

      Food coloring

      In a large bowl, mix salt, water and vegetable oil. Continue mixing while adding flour and cornstarch. Knead until smooth. If dough seems too sticky, add a little flour. If too dry, add a little water.

      Divide the dough into several lumps. Add a few drops of food coloring to each lump and knead to mix the color into the dough. Store in air-tight containers, for this will dry out if exposed to air.

      Unselfconscious Contact

      Children are such heavy sleepers that you can lean over them and nuzzle and pat them without waking

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