Foggy weather and warm hearts

After days of having sidewalks that were literally solid ice, we have had a thaw. Every day has been foggy and cold for a while. It doesn't rain enough to need an umbrella, but everything is wet and cold. The sidewalks are no longer slippery but they are now covered with a kind of brown slime. Chisinau is about 47 degrees north, so even though the days are getting longer it is still dark until 7:30 a.m. and dark by 4:30 p.m. Just as I was getting ready to email my sister in Portland, Oregon to see what she suggests for dealing with the depressing days of winter, I had some great heart warming experiences. On Sunday morning I was walking up the to Academy of Music to practice, just about to cross Stefan cel Mare Blvd, when I heard a voice saying, "Hello - Hello!" It was one of the wonderful young cymbalom players from the Academy who had seen me walking and wanted to say Hi. He was so cheerful and happy to see me that it really warmed my heart! Then when I arrived at the Academy the woman watching the door had her Sunday best on and was so friendly and greeted me with, "La mulți ani" (Happy New Year). Later that day I was walking home and received a phone call (I don't get many calls here in Moldova) from my friend who works at the Azerbaijani embassy. We met for dinner later and enjoyed talking together. This has continued for the past few days with many chance meetings and friendly exchanges that warm my heart in these long days of winter. From the wonderful Skype and instant message sessions with my family to the chance meetings on the street, Chisinau has warmed up in the middle of some days with no sunshine. I was very happy today to see that the accordion player has returned to his morning performances in Pushkin Park, although he is using a small flute on these cold days. I hope I can bring some sunshine to other hearts as well! I did get to say, "Buna seara" (good evening) to Oskar the dog from upstairs tonight (and his owner). O zi buna!