Frederico Fellini once said
“You have to live spherically - in many directions. Never lose your childish enthusiasm - and things will come your way.”
So, through good times and bad, I have tried my best to LIVE this way.
That is why, before dawn was breaking, the cat and I were on the sofa with a mug of hot cocoa mixed with morning coffee in the dim Christmas Tree glow; watching the beginnings of today's snowfall. The World outside my patio door resembles a shook-up snow globe, and the skies show no sign of it ending any time soon!
I am thrilled!
It is also why, although there were plenty lamenting the return of winter and snow, I still get excited and happy with the Season change.
The SNOW.
Realistically...the Season is going to change and the snow is going to fall whether you are happy about it or not.
Why not embrace it and see the beauty?
But today's missive is about routine.
Our routine...our personal rituals.
For me, coffee fits in pretty prominently, here. My Keurig and I am in a long term relationship.
I'm pretty sure it's The One.
~laughing~
It is cold this morning, and I dragged out the 100+ year old iron skillet that has passed through several generations in my family before ending up in my kitchen.
Perfectly seasoned I layer pork chops, red potatoes and onions in it and cover it with a non-hundred-year-old domed glass lid. The lid helps the food baste itself and stay moist and tender. A makeshift Cataplana, as we learned in our Portugal Adventures. Breakfast is on, and I have resumed my place beneath a fuzzy throw watching he snow fall with the cat.
On Winter Days I tend to bake or roast, or prepare a casserole.
In the Hot Summer breakfast is simplified to fresh fruit or berries in my Magic Bullet Blender; a cold smoothie.
I check in on family and friends daily through the wonder that is FB. I do not amass faceless friends.
If I don't know you personally...well...you aren't on my "friends" list, okay.
I check in partially because it has become my daily habit, to receive the daily Virtual Bouquet that Dave always gives all of us every morning, and because I must (Mon-Fri) open my DS Virtual Café
...also because if I don't make an Appearance before noon...friends and family have a tendency to think I have either
A) Died
B) Am Laying Here Dying
and tend to panic. Call. E-mail. Come over and knock on the door.
So checking in has just joined my daily routine.
Trust me, it is easier this way.
I stop...light a candle...meditate...and then plan the day before I begin. Whether there are tasks that need completed, friends or family to be met for brunch or an activity, groceries to be bought, bills to be paid, or a project that needs finished.
These days I fatigue very quickly thanks to FRED...and I have short windows of time to accomplish this or that...followed by rest periods...then more activity. It requires some planning, adjustment and accommodation.
I try very hard to never plan two days of anything intensive back to back.
Anything hand written must be completed very early in the morning...because by noonish...the ability is beyond me. Christmas cards this year have been a challenge. Mornings tend to be my productive time...with varying levels of ability as the day progresses.
A nap isn't a luxury any more. It is a necessity.
So after finishing chores here, or coming in after groceries or brunch or shopping you will see me on the love-seat snuggled beneath a throw taking a cat nap.
Usually with a real cat.
Tucker (and, indeed, most cats) are extremely routine-oriented. He has gotten used to my mid-day break and usually settles in the middle of my chest for his own break.
I throw in laundry daily, too. Small daily loads being much easier to contend with than waiting until there is a heavy pile.
On good days I tend to start dinner at 5...on bad days...I don't eat, or depend on something that only requires heating (pre-cooked)
It took a while to make this adaptation. As someone who loves to cook and used to cook every day...it took a lot to realize that during the really rough FRED days...maybe a Frozen Dinner or a heated can of something was okay, too.
"Idgy" and I usually end the evening together "in the box". Sipping wine or herbed tea...talking about our day.
Sometimes there is writing or blogging, painting, virtual travel, or catching a film.
Even bedtime has its own routine. Turning off electronics a half hour before. Usually some herbal tea. Soft light. Quiet. Maybe a chapter in a novel I have started. Nothing heavy. Meditation and blowing out the candle.
Laugh if you want.
Sheep count me..okay?
I fall right asleep and usually don't wake up until the next morning...feeling rested. Recharged.
On Sundays, I add in the variation of Sunday Morning Sprawl on the Floor like a Throw-Rug with The Sunday Edition, a Mug of Coffee and the Cat. Just me, the newspaper and the Tucker-cat all over the living room floor.
It's a GOOD life!
More anon...
