January Thaw Ending... Winter Returns. Live in the Moment. Enjoy.

Weather forecast in motion.

I'll get back to it soon.

Things I've learned on this trip home. I call it home as it is definitely one of my homes as I spend part of my time in Florida and part in North Carolina. It's "home" as in "touching base" and "exhaling" while I break my Carolina routine and am forced to do things differently. That change in the routine often makes me think too much but in a good way. Some of us process things more than others and I'm one of them. For instance, it occurs to me that my mother who refused to fly because she didn't trust some pilot or their machine to do things vs being afraid of heights, would never want to own a car that drives itself. That said she loved driving... I suppose she loved being in control and driving made her feel free so that SHE could take off and go anywhere anytime she wanted. The idea of programming a route would have made her annoyed as if she was committing to a route. My father was like that too... Every stop sign gave him time to debate which way was mathematically the fastest, best route to where he was going and he was always updating that route in real time much like WAZE does today.

I heard an old friend Rabbi Manis Friedman speak Saturday evening about the connection between a parent and a child so I'm processing these inner thoughts and sharing them a bit on the blog.

It's Mid January. Mid January is that time when people in some parts of the country realize that it is most definitely winter as in "deep into winter" and they begin thinking on Spring. Funny how we never stop and enjoy where we are at as we are always looking towards the next season that is months away. Okay, some people do but many do not. In Miami we don't really have seasons of the meteorological kind. We have hurricane season (over) and football season (so over for the Dolphins) and Mango season (not there yet) and tourist season (oh my Lord try and eat out somewhere on Miami Beach this week....) and we have one other season. Miami Winter means that when the sun disappears briefly or the wind begins to blow we run find out jacket or put on our boots. Moments later the sun comes out and the wind dies down and we begin to take our sweater and boots off and scrounge around the floor of the car for our sandals and flipflops. We don't ditch the sweater because we will walk into a restaurant that has the AC on set to 69 degrees and we are cold again. The struggle is real.

My son went to Cincinnati on a short trip and got to see snow, ice and apparently Northern Kentucky. I've never been there though my son said I'd like it. Art Deco skyscrapers reaching up into the sky and a snow covered ground below. The food is good. As much as I love geography the concept that Cincinnati is basically really North Kentucky never hit me. I often refer to Raleigh as Eastern Tennessee and jokingly say that NC is Tennessee's beach. They have much in common until you get all the way down to just North of South of the Border or way East of I95 where the BBQ sauce is different.

Weather comes and goes while climate remains the rule. Currently we are going through our "January Thaw" and as soon as we have thawed out winter returns with a vengeance. Note the maps below. Today snow is up there where it belongs. Over the next 5 days it dips down into an area not used to winter weather again. This year that see saw is on automatic drive much or an old computer programming loop. What goes away will come back and stay a bit longer each time until we are deeper into February and the depth of winter. And, then........ Spring beckons again as daffodils push their way up through the frozen ground and the last of the snowbirds get on JetBlue and fly back up north to where they belong.

So my final thoughts today are as such. Enjoy the day and it's own uniqueness the way we savor good food or a new born baby.  Enjoy the snowflakes or the wind and enjoy the daffodils and the quieter streets once the "season" is over the tourists go home if you live in Miami.

Oh and if you are on Miami Beach and looking for a really nice place to eat that the tourists have not discovered it seems Capri Restaurant on 41st Street (Arthur Godfrey Drive) was a wonderful experience. While I am not on Paleo on this vacation I had Pasta with a white cream sauce and various types of fake shellfish. It's a kosher place but they do sushi and salads and you can find something you will enjoy even if you are not kosher or vegan. Note the Mexican Kosher place down the block "Carlos and Gabby" was packed and not serving food as they had "issues in the kitchen" so we left and found another place to eat. Will do "Carlos and Gabby" when in New York. Sometimes it's nice to try something new and find a real delight while home walking on my old "Main Street" a few blocks from my parent's house. 

So that's it from my "winter vacation" today while home in Florida. My son Moe is cooking breakfast in the kitchen, but waiting for my other son Zalmy to finish at the gym and go somewhere for a while to get some quality time.

Quality time. When was the last time you had good quality time?

My grandson will only fall asleep to the sound of rain on his parent's mini iPad .. I guess we must be related. 

Besos BobbiStorm

@bobbistorm on Twitter

Savor the moments. It's the moments that make a big difference often. 

One moment you are struggling towards your dream and the next moment... victory.