I took the little white card, and my Japanese fountain pen - a few dashes with the pencil and then I drew whatever stood in front of me in the tiny vase on my breakfast table at the window.
"On my birthday I want to sit on a terrace in Rome in the sunshine and drink a cappuccino", said the Flying Dutchman after half a year of cold and rain and wind and dark clouds and a leaden sea in the Netherlands.
The sun is shining and spring comes just around the corner - even quicker than the marathon runners who blocked a lot of streets - no way to cross the road to get to the Campo da fiori on our first of five days here though our hotel was very near.
"Look, look!"
This is one of the rare cases that I found a quote in German, loved it, and looked it up in the works of William James - brother of famous author Henry James.
Believe me or not: I love the German translation even more!
"Um gute Laune zu kriegen, muss man sich vergnügt aufrichten, vergnügt um sich schauen und sich so verhalten, als wäre die gute Laune bereits da."
Re-translated (and please don't be to rigorous with my grammar) it goes like this:
"To get into a good mood, one has to to cheerfully straighten oneself, look around cheerfully and act as if cheerfulness were already there."
(Maybe it is "straighten oneself" contra "to sit"?)
Twice a year we have the stunning sight of hundreds of sheep grazing in the water meadow.
The farmers, owner of the meadows, are not as happy as the triplets: sheep squish their ground.
I read that the Celts celebrated on the first of February "Imbole": that means "in the belly (abdomen)" and might be related to the lambing of sheep.
As February mornings are still very cold it is fascinating to watch them: the sheep look as if they are literally frozen to the ground - not one is moving! For hours - no movement, not even a curl! From my window I cannot see their eyes :-)
So I have to wait till around 10:30 a.m. - then the dog stirs them up and they hesitatingly chew a few iced blades of grass.
Woof!
Yesterday I was very happy to be there in my flat in Bavaria when the carollers came along and blessed the house. Glued the blessing over my front door.
Later I choose a motto for 2025, a quote out of Nabil Fanous book "The Universal Rules of Life":
It is Rule 1: "Do it now, perfect it later."
He meant me, I am quite sure. And of cause he is right: "Intentions aren't the same as action." So I spare you my New Year's resolutions. I have them - but if they only exist in my head or my heart I shall keep my mouth shut. (Haha - that's one of my New Year's resolutions: I talk too much - that takes away a lot of energy - mine, and that of others).
I always admire people in films: taciturn and wise they LISTEN to the other one and only utter one wise half-sentence in 15 minutes. My only excuse: I worked as a councillor - and in my long life I listened 30.000 hours (!) to 30.000 young people. Which I did with high interest, really - but after that I took a deep breath and started to talk more myself - and now I train myself to listen - again).
I wish all of you a good start in 2025!