Warm thoughts for a cold, windy Michigan winter day

Do you remember this book? It's called Frederick, written and illustrated by Leo Lionni, and I remember liking it when I was young. It's about a mouse whose family is working hard to prepare for the winter, while Frederick seems to be sitting around daydreaming. Everyone's upset that Frederick isn't helping, but when winter comes and it's cold and the food runs low, Frederick shows that he was not sitting around doing nothing. He was storing up warm memories, and his stories keep his family warm and happy during the coldest of the winter months.

When I was young this was just a story about a mouse who had an almost magical storytelling ability, and how his family came to appreciate it. Later, I saw themes about valuing different talents and contributions in the people around us. And as an adult, I realized that it could be read as a sort of parable about the role of artists (writers, painters, poets, musicians, etc.) in society at large.

Sometimes I like being a grownup and being able to get all analytical about stuff, but sometimes it's also nice to go back to the simplicity of my childhood interpretations. This is a book in which a mouse is able to keep his family warm, quite literally, through just the power of his words. Today when it's as cold and windy as a Michigan January ought to be (but has not really been this year), I would love to have that power in all its literalness. I don't, but I'm going to pretend I do and share some warm words and thoughts for my readers who are shivering here in Michigan and other cold locations. Feel free to add to the list.

Hot chocolate
Central heating
The equator
Fresh-baked cookies
Arizona
Pajamas straight from the dryer
Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
The Backdraft attraction at Universal Studios
July
Lawrence of Arabia
Heated socks
Thanksgiving dinner
Maui
My dog curled up next to me on the bed
And, of course, the beach...

Here's to a warm, cozy January day.