Ron Lieber recently wrote about enjoying such simple pleasures as going to the library and losing yourself in a stack of magazines. I mostly read non-fiction, whether newspaper, non-fiction or creative non-fiction books about my favorite subjects, although I'll read a rare novel here and there (the DaVinci Code is on my list). Total unwinding for me is sitting down in a quiet room with a stack of magazines and endless time with no scheduled events on the horizon, and perhaps a cup of tea or a glass of wine. Every few months, and before we go on vacation, I go to the library to get a big stack of magazines. And then I'll hole up in bed or on the couch and disappear relishing my (somewhat) brainless browsing through pretty pictures and snipets and tidbits of text.

It gives me great visual pleasure to leaf through the aesthetically pleasing Martha Stewart magazines and oohhh and aahh at the beautiful photographs of clever ideas and sumptuous spreads, as unpractical and time consuming as the making of all these beautiful crafts, decors and dishes may in reality be. And reading about people instead of ideas is relaxing to the mind as well.

Entertainment and relaxation don't always have to cost an arm and a leg. What simple pleasures do you enjoy?