For most of the world this winter will be a little bit more difficult to stay warm. I have some suggestions from my experience.
1. Look at the person next to you with new eyes
They have always been there, but we tend to think of them as the person we met ten years ago or twenty years ago. Look at them for the person they are and for the person they will become when you believe.
This has helped me a lot to stay warm. My wife was a naive country girl and loner, but today she is an international cook and friend to many. She has a lot of problems, but when I see her for the heart she is then she is very lovely.
I feel like even though so many years have passed and I know that big pause is at hand I can still sing with Stevie Wonder, "Isn't she Lovely?"
2. Dance
In the cold winter it is easy to stay inside and sit and watch TV. Then our hearts grow cold. Sometimes in the morning it is good to escape into a little dance and in the evening dance "Cheek to Cheek".
I admit, not everybody is a good dancer. But when there is love then there is a beat. And when there is a beat then people will move their feet.
My wife is not into dancing so much, but when I see her as lovely then somehow she follows a few of my moves. My son also follows and is so funny that even though my wife doesn't get her heart beating from dancing at least she gets her cardio in by laughing because we make a hilarious couple.
Ella and Louis got this song down perfect. We lived a couple blocks from the Ella Fitzgerald club on Roosevelt Road in Chicago. I remember some evenings my brother and I sneaking off to the parking lot to listen in on her skit skat and bibibity bop. I still haven't lost that little child who loves to groove.
3. Hot coffee with some cream
In the morning I take my coffee black and drink it pretty quick with a kpop beat on the way out. However the evening coffee is a different story. It is taken in my favorite cup, lightly stirred with a little cinnamon, cream and sometimes a little chocolate to top it off.
Maybe a decaf is just as good as any other coffee in the evening. The trick is to drink it slow and relax. The mood and the feeling are just as important as getting to the destination.
Music really does help keep the pace of what we eat or what we drink. As long as our heart is in sync with the beat then we should not finish the coffee too soon. This Gondolieri music from Luigi Rinaldi does the trick. It is right on time with 17 minutes and 32 seconds. There is no rush or coffee getting cold when you are having a coffee in Rome.
