After the storm
The sounds of the dripping ice from the trees
The crunch of the snow being chipped away
The traffic zooming by splashing snow on the pedestrians
Not with a caring thought of who is getting slushed upon
Ah, winter the cold, the brisk, the sun, the light
The weather changing
The weather warming up
The weather warming down
It’s like a tease
Oh, Spring is here
Yet the sun and the birds are chirping
But then Oh old woman winter comes out
It is below zero again
Well that is kind of the way life can go
It can be up

One of my personal gripes nowadays is e-mail. Not, I hasten to add, my own use of it, but other peoples'. Use, or perhaps I should say, misuse.

E-mail today seems to be something that is uniquely capable of laying bare all the personal foibles and failings of the American public. Carelessness, inattention, confusion, disorganization, and inability to follow simple directions; not to mention ignorance of English grammar and spelling.

Did you ever go into some place that had an echo?

It’s so hard not be a kid again. Just to play with it: clap, or say “hello”, or whistle, or stomp your feet.

I am so pleasantly surprised to find places that call you back to being curious, in the moment, childlike, wonder. The New York Botanical Gardens has a fabulous tunnel connecting two buildings that’s just perfect for making echoes. Perhaps it just happened that way. I’m grateful.

You just want to play with the situation. All else stops.

What is it about a rainbow that conjures such positive, joyful thoughts?

It seems that everyone loves a rainbow. Poems are written. Smiles cross faces when the word rainbow is seen. There are so many expressions: catch a rainbow, the other side of a rainbow, ride the rainbow, chase a rainbow, find your rainbow.

Men search for the treasure pot at the end of the rainbow. So I ask you, “Is there a treasure?” Perhaps the treasure in rainbows is “eating a rainbow.” “What,” you may ask, “am I talking about?” I’m talking about starting every day eating the colors of the rainbow.

In our home, whenever someone sits down to eat anything, someone else in the home sits down too, just to keep them company.

Not necessarily to make conversation, or eat something too, but just to be with them.

A long time ago, I worked with someone who came from Taiwan. We were talking about lunch, and he said, “People should not eat alone” – this was a deep and fervent part of his up-bringing.

I am driving to my next destination
As I am on this country road
Looking around
I am thinking wow isn’t it amazing
This car that just transports me
With these wheels that I can go
here and there
To and from
Often I wonder
Do we just forget the attitude of gratitude
Of being able to be so mobile
There are so many people who don’t have a car and need to walk everywhere
Although walking is a really good exercise
Just being able to move in an automobile
Is just really pretty much a gift
I happy to be able to transport myself

Do you dream in color?

The question came up one day, and gee, I am not sure.

I do remember dreams that were incredibly realistic. I saw individual blades of grass, and it was very green.

In some dreams there is a crowd, and all the faces are individual, different – yet incredibly, all strangers.

Some dreams that I’ve had a long time ago, I suddenly remember while I am awake, like a déjà vu. I think most of my dreams are in black and white, and occasionally in color.

I love to draw. And I love to paint even a little more.

There’s something so amazing about becoming immersed in an imaginary world – to create something inspired out of thin air.

Well, it’s really not something out of thin air in my experience, but rather playing with someone or something larger than me. You could call it higher self, God, or the Muse, but there is something there that I am working with -- no, playing with.

Someone once said that half of creating is just showing up. Every Sunday afternoon I either draw or paint. I show up.

John:

Hello everyone. This is John and Cindy with Heart Speak. We’re here with Chris on the Intrepid on June 24, 2024, with Dr Jordan Metzl who just finished the most phenomenal Iron Work workout. Chris, how are you doing today?

Chris:

I am doing excellent. I am very happy that John and Cindy came down here. My name is Chris Vichiola from Newtown, CT. As John said, I am on the Intrepid on June 24, 2024 with Dr. Jordan Metzl’s Iron Strength workout.

I like to doodle. With an extra fine black pen on a piece of ordinary white paper.

The black ink is so stark, yet so controlled, so elegant because the line is so finely precise.

Doodling is one of earliest ways I remember to cope with frustration, with worry, with stress. It relaxes me.

There’s something about setting pen to paper that feels like raw creativity, pure play – no agenda – no picture in mind – just giving myself over to the moment.