Classic (Nurturing Thursday)

January 30, 2025 · Write a comment · Categories: Musings · Tags:

Last week I didn’t spend much time online. I felt like reading an old ghost story instead, so I checked Wuthering Heights out of the library, using the Libby app and reading it on my Kindle. It wasn’t as much of a ghost story as I had expected. Not a love story either, although it has passionate characters. Probably the best category for it would be psychological drama.

But then, if classics were easily described, they wouldn’t be classics, I suppose.

Word-art that says, "A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say." -Italo Calvino

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.”

Instead (Nurturing Thursday)

January 23, 2025 · Write a comment · Categories: Musings · Tags:

I’ve been indoors for most of this week’s cold days, except for some errands on Tuesday. Today was dark and gloomy, leaving me with a touch of the winter blahs. I knew I’d feel better after doing my rowing machine workout and getting my heart rate up; the plan for today called for high-intensity intervals, and I’d done this exercise before and had a good sense of how to pace myself for them.

Still, it took me most of the day to summon up the energy to get started. The blah thoughts, in which my imagination constructed a stressful scenario that was not in fact likely to happen in real life, hadn’t totally gone away by the time I finished my warm-up row, but the intervals effectively left me with no thoughts of anything but sucking in more air. The workout itself was not much fun; but afterward, I felt much better.

Word-art that says, "Every time you choose to go for a walk instead of reacting to a stressful situation, you win."

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.”

The Never Dragon

January 18, 2025 · Write a comment · Categories: Musings · Tags:

This week has been cold and snowy here in Ohio. A few days ago, I took a photo of the snow on my deck piled against the patio door, which left me wishing to be somewhere warmer.

Photo of snow on my deck, taken through the patio door.

That got me thinking about my younger selves in the make-believe village of Channelwood, who appeared more regularly in this blog a few years ago but have been somewhat neglected since then. I visited them for a pretend spring break in 2021, when of course nobody got a real one because of the pandemic. This year, my husband and I have travel plans for Sarasota in mid-February; but that is still a month from now, which seems very far away when there is snow on the ground every day.

Looking at the photo, I heard wings beating in my imagination. A greenish-gray dragon landed on my deck with a thump, tucking his wings and curling his tail to fit inside the railing. On his back was my five-year-old Peter Pan alter ego, wearing a green jacket with matching pants and boots. Steam billowed up around the dragon as his warmth melted some of the snow. Peter beckoned for me to come outside, and I pictured myself in suitable winter gear stepping into the image.

“I’ve just come from Neverland,” Peter informed me, “and this is my good friend, the Never Dragon. You’ve met him once before—in Channelwood, when he was a baby. He says he wants to go back there for a visit, so I thought we could all fly to Channelwood together.”

The dragon didn’t have a saddle, but I decided that I certainly ought to be able to avoid falling off, since this was my own daydream. I climbed up behind Peter, and the dragon lifted into the sky, heading east.

After we’d been flying steadily for a while, we got into some clouds, which felt cold and clammy. My glasses fogged over, and I wasn’t sure how much time had passed before the dragon went into a gentle glide. We came out of the clouds just above Channelwood’s beach. The air felt much warmer here—wonderfully springlike—as we landed softly in the sand.

I slid down from the dragon’s back and just stood there for a moment, enjoying the sound of the waves and the scent of the sea. The sky was clearing, and the warm sunlight on my face was delightful. I felt as if I could stand here all day.

Peter took three small red apples from his pockets and gave one to me. He bit into another and held out the third apple to the dragon, who devoured it in one gulp. Apple-scented steam rose from the dragon’s nostrils, and after I’d taken a few bites of my apple, the dragon was happy to eat the core.

“Now that we’ve had lunch,” Peter said cheerfully, “what adventures shall we go on today? How about looking for pirate ships to chase away from the coast? Or maybe there’s a sea monster in the bay or a wicked witch in the woods.”

A wave reached higher with the incoming tide, gently rolling almost to my feet, which were still in their winter boots. Starting to feel hot, I unzipped my coat. I noticed a pretty pink shell not far to my left.

“Can’t we just take off our boots and go for a barefoot walk along the beach, picking up shells and enjoying the lovely weather?” I suggested.

Peter looked disgusted by the very idea. “Grown-ups are always so boring! No sense of adventure at all. Tinker Bell, send her home!”

I heard a soft fluttering and the chiming of small bells behind my head. Before I could turn around or do anything, a sparkly shower of fairy dust came down around me. The beach scene faded away, and I found myself back in my kitchen next to the patio door.

By now, the temperature had climbed above freezing, a light rain had started to fall, and some of the snow on my deck had melted. I imagined that if I looked closely enough, I could just see the long, sinuous outline of the dragon in what remained of the snow.

Look at the Stars (Nurturing Thursday)

January 16, 2025 · Write a comment · Categories: Musings · Tags:

I’m always wondering what day to take down the Christmas tree in mid-January. Until then, I leave it up because it brightens the winter gloom and I’m not quite ready for the holidays to be over. Then I become indecisive, wanting more sparkly lights on dark days and also wanting to put the tree away for another year and feel that spring is getting closer.

For now, I’m going to let the decision wait a few more days and just look at the stars, instead.

Word-art that says, "When life knocks you down, roll over, and look at the stars."

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.”

Real Things (Nurturing Thursday)

January 9, 2025 · Write a comment · Categories: Musings · Tags:

I made a contribution last month to the Carter Center, remembering the former president’s tireless work to advance democracy and to make the world a better place. He had a full and inspiring life, well deserving of the praise he received today. Character still matters.

Word-art that says, "The real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong." -Laura Ingalls Wilder

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.”

All Now (Nurturing Thursday)

January 2, 2025 · Write a comment · Categories: Musings · Tags:

I had a full workday after a long and relaxing holiday break. Weirdly, it didn’t feel much different. The end of the holidays didn’t leave me feeling deprived of free time. All day, I sat in my desk chair feeling just as relaxed as if I’d been playing games or browsing through blogs, although I was doing my usual job. My Garmin tracker said that I had multiple restful periods while working. Whatever might have caused this curious circumstance, I felt that I was fully inhabiting the now.

Word-art that says, "All we have is now."

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.”

Allow What Is

January 1, 2025 · Write a comment · Categories: Musings · Tags:

“Okay, I am not going to judge whether my resolution for last year was a success,” I said to myself after I’d been staring at a blank notepad for several minutes, trying to get started writing this post.

Outside my living room windows, January 1st was a typical winter day in Ohio: cloudy, cold, and windy. Light snow had mostly melted, and the ground just looked damp and soggy. My couch was comfortable, though; I’d bought it in late summer, soon after getting the windows replaced. A new purple blanket—a Christmas gift from my daughter—occupied the other end of the couch, ready to keep my feet warm if needed.

Photo of a purple blanket on my couch.

In terms of material comforts, I had made some progress on my New Year’s resolution for 2024—to soar, letting go of things that weighed me down. The house wasn’t looking as neglected these days. I felt better now that I had good, clear windows letting in plenty of sunlight.

Replacing worn-out old physical stuff—however desirable—hadn’t been the main point, though. Did I feel lighter emotionally as the past year came to a close? Had I become less weighed down by old worries? That was harder to determine, and I had a strong intuitive feeling that I shouldn’t be judging myself in such terms anyway. After all, I wasn’t under any obligation to give my psyche a year-end performance review.

Dot, my imaginary personified to-do list and New Year’s resolution advisor, chose that moment to make her appearance. She curled up cozily on the other end of the couch, kicking off the red shoes she’d worn on the yellow brick road in 2023. Arranging her long skirt comfortably over her stockinged feet on the middle cushion, she helped herself to my blanket.

“No gold stars for waking up in a good mood,” she inquired, “or lumps of coal for feeling grumpy?”

“Well, no. Moods come and go. Intending to wake up cheerful doesn’t guarantee that it will happen. If I wanted to give myself gold stars, it would be for promptly recognizing grumpy moods and allowing them to pass. As to that, I feel I’ve done better toward year’s end, although there is space for improvement. I have the word ‘Allow’ in mind as a word of intention for 2025.”

“Allow what is, without judgment as to how it got there,” Dot suggested, pulling together my somewhat disorganized themes, “and then allow it to pass, as it always does.”

The holiday clock on the shelf chimed the hour with a snippet of ‘O Christmas Tree’ as I considered Dot’s idea for a resolution.

“I like that. It fits together,” I decided. “To be honest, I haven’t found much energy for writing on this dark winter day, but I can allow that to be my reality in the moment without judging myself. That doesn’t mean it will be the same tomorrow or next week. By closing out this post with a workable resolution, I’ve accomplished what I wanted to do for today, even if I haven’t written a brilliantly creative epic.”

Dot patted the couch softly. Toto jumped up beside her, stretching out on the middle cushion and kneading a corner of the blanket between his front paws.

“Yes, sometimes we just need to rest and be lazy for a while, letting our energy build back up. Pets know that by instinct, and it’s just as true for us.”