I’ll be traveling this weekend to row with my husband at a regatta in South Carolina. My women’s double partner, Deb, who rows with both our Greater Dayton club and the Great Miami club, will be there too, making a total of three events for me. Along with the women’s double and mixed double 1K Masters sprints, I’ll also be rowing in the mixed double 2K, which my husband and I are doing for the first time.

Although the 2K is mainly for younger rowers, we’re giving it a try anyway, even if we are old enough to be our competitors’ parents. We are both fit enough to row the longer distance—and it’s a new adventure, after all, so why not?

Word-art that says "We travel not to escape life but for life to not escape us."

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”

Although it has been chilly and rainy here, I’ve been feeling cheerful this week listening to the birds chirping as they go about their nest-building and other springtime activities. This word-art image seemed just right for Nurturing Thursday. Enjoy!

Word cloud in a bird shape with words like "compassionate."

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”

Last weekend I broke one of the nose pads on my glasses. My husband bought replacements for me when he put in an Amazon order, and they arrived quickly. In the meanwhile, I took the pads off some old glasses for spares, so it wasn’t a problem.

When the new nose pads arrived, I was very surprised at how different they were from the old ones. I last bought glasses in October of 2019, so it wasn’t like they were ancient. But the new pads were thick and soft, with some sort of gel cushioning, whereas the old pads were nothing but hard plastic. I stopped by an optical shop to get my glasses adjusted because the extra thickness pushed them higher, and it took me a little time to get used to the pads not being in the same place on my nose; but I feel much more comfortable now.

Eyeglasses with new nose pads.

Of course, I would’ve bought cushy nose pads long ago if I had known they existed—but I just assumed my glasses had to be equipped with bits of hard plastic digging into my nose because that was what I’d always had. As a general rule, I try not to make limiting assumptions or get stuck in unhelpful habits, but sometimes we just don’t know what we don’t know.

I’m posting this entry on Friday, rather than Thursday, because we had some server issues yesterday evening. Around the time I went to bed, my husband thought that he’d gotten everything resolved, but he was still checking to make sure.

Of course, I could’ve stayed up later to make sure I posted an entry on Thursday and avoided deviating from my usual schedule, but that didn’t seem like it would make much sense. Nurturing Thursday is mainly about being gentle with oneself. Among other things, it’s meant as an antidote to society’s pressure to meet all expectations, whether self-imposed or external. Weekly posting is good because it gives me enough structure for meaningful reflection on a regular basis, but too much rigidity would be counterproductive.

Word-art that says "Being gentle with yourself is a radical act."

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to “give this planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.” Visit her site to find more Nurturing Thursday posts and a list of frequent contributors.

This morning, I got into an email conversation about gardening and spent a few enjoyable minutes imagining what I could do with my backyard. I pictured a monarch butterfly garden in the corner of the yard where my home office looks out, with flowers everywhere and small ornamental trees.

Although it’s probably fair to say that I was letting myself get distracted in the middle of a workday, I would also say that a reasonable amount of distraction and fun contributes to a productive life. Keeping one’s attention entirely focused on external tasks while neglecting oneself is not optimal. If I had a beautiful garden outside my window when I was working, I’d surely feel inspired to accomplish more.

Word-art that says "Give yourself the same care and attention that you give to others and watch yourself bloom."

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to “give this planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.” Visit her site to find more Nurturing Thursday posts and a list of frequent contributors.

When I went on vacation with my husband the last week of February, we brought along a rowing machine—a Concept2 RowErg, which has the advantage of being easy to take apart and move. It fit reasonably well in the back of my husband’s SUV with one of the back seats folded down and our daughter in the other seat, with her little dog on her lap. Arranging the suitcases around the RowErg was manageable, and the boats and bicycles went on a trailer.

Our plan was to row our double scull on the Florida Intracoastal Waterway for a week, so as to get back in practice after being off the water during the cold northern winter, and then race in a regatta on Sunday, February 27th in Sarasota. The regatta was smaller than usual because a circus had taken up much of the space in the county park where it was held, but we still had good competition. Bringing the erg to Florida allowed us to keep up with the winter fitness schedule our online coach had given us.

We set up the erg on a screened back porch of the house where we stayed. The view of the bay was gorgeous. Before rowing on the water in the early afternoon, we did our workouts on the erg in the morning, while the temperature was still reasonably cool.


I still felt like I was wilting in the Florida humidity, though. After being indoors all winter, I wasn’t at all used to it. A demanding workout on Wednesday morning, which focused on more strength at a slower rate, left me totally dripping with sweat and grumbling to myself about how I could’ve been so crazy as to be a fitness freak while on vacation.

The afternoon rows on the water were easier. We just paddled around with the dolphins and enjoyed the sunshine and the lovely scenery. Then we rode our bicycles in the late afternoon, on a path that ran beside the Gulf Coast for part of the way. It felt like a great, relaxing vacation—but for self-inflicted erg misery.

When race day finally came, though, I gained more appreciation for the daily workout schedule. Sprinting for the 1K distance that is standard for Masters races didn’t seem nearly as long, or as hard, as in past years. I was able to keep the pace more even, and each stroke felt more powerful. When I looked to see how far I had gone on the course, thinking that I was about halfway, I was surprised to see that my boat was already two-thirds of the way to the finish line. In the single, I was far ahead of my competitor in the next lane; and in the double, we nosed in front of a team that always used to beat us handily at regattas.

Now I feel as if I am recalibrating—that is to say, tossing out old assumptions about my limits and getting used to having a healthier and more capable body. My husband just signed us up to row our double next month in an open 2K sprint with a younger field of competitors, which we haven’t done before. We may not win, or even place, but it will be a good experience no matter what happens; and I’m not going to make any limiting assumptions before we even try.

After we got back home, I had a weird dream in which I lived in a messy apartment. A circus started setting up on the grounds of the apartment complex, like what happened with the regatta at the park. I left the apartment and came back to find that the building where it had been, just a few hours earlier, was no longer there. I saw a construction worker walking by and asked him what had happened. He told me that the apartment building had been temporarily disassembled to make space for the circus and would be put back together afterward.

There’s plenty of fodder for dream interpretation in that one!

Coming back from Florida to Ohio was a long two-day trip (Sunday and Monday) that left me feeling low on energy for a few days afterward, but I can’t complain after a great week of fun in the sun.

When I went through my work email on Tuesday morning, I found a cat picture attached to an email that left me smiling, even though I needed plenty of coffee to stay awake. Too cute not to share!

Word-art with a cat tangled in beads that says "Mardi Gras Cat Regrets Nothing."

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to “give this planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.” Visit her site to find more Nurturing Thursday posts and a list of frequent contributors.