If you google "good things in small packages," you bring up  a list of everything from tiny genomes to boutique wineries in Australia. Here's my personal non-Google list of good things that come in small packages. You may want to make your own list, or add to this one.

1. Kelly Majam of the University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine softball team!  Kelly is the reason I started this list. She's a 5-3 freshman center fielder from Pine Valley, California, who leads the nation in home runs and has already broken the Wahine single-season record. Watch her strength and bat speed at the plate, watch the ball fly deep to center and into the UH tennis courts or scream over the scoreboard in right field, and you'll forget all about the recent steroid guys in the Bigs.

2. Kelly's in good slugger company, with a mighty mite lineup of 5-3 Kelly leading off, then 5-4 freshman Jessica Iwata from Kauai (national player of the week), 5-6 Melissa Gonzalez (wow, some tall!), 5-5 Jenna Rodriguez, 5-4 Traci Yoshikawa, 5-5 Alex Aguirre, 5-5 Kanani Puu-Warren, 5-5 Amanda Taualii, and 5-6 Katie Grimes. When  Coach Bob Coolen sends out his pinch runners they are usually 5-1 rabbits like Rachel Paragas and Mikalemi Tagab-Cruz. The Wahine players always make the mainland teams look like giants, as happened last night when they defeated Louisiana Tech. If it were a basketball game, the Hawaii team might have been in trouble. (By the way, pitcher Stephanie Ricketts, who is 6-0, is Hawaii's not-so-secret weapon.)

3. Short stories! This is my favorite form of fiction. I enjoy a good novel, but give me a well written, engaging short story, between 10 and 20 pages, able to be read in one sitting (as Edgar Allan Poe pointed out), and I'm one delighted reader.

4. Short poems! The sonnets of Shakespeare.  An ode from Keats.  Anything from Emily Dickinson, who seemed to spend words as if they were gold coins. How about a haiku?  Enough said.

5. Chocolate! There's something classic about a Hershey kiss. Small and sweet, tantalizingly packaged, ready to be opened. Or dark chocolate squares, individually wrapped in shiny foil.

6. A favorite song! I wouldn't know where to begin listing my favorite songs. A song you love takes only a few minutes of your day and rewards you so well. Speaking of music, I see a lot of people who would put their iPod at the top of any list of good things in small packages.

7. Chocolate! I know, I know, but it's my list and if I want to list it twice ... and besides, chocolate is good for your mental health, and dark chocolate is good for your heart, and ...

Tags: chocolate, iPod, Kelly Majam, short poems, short stories, University of Hawaii Wahine softball

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 17th, 2010 at 6:35 am and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.