Meg Evans

Now that our daughter is settling into her new life in Auckland, I was looking at some photos and videos of her walking the dog at a seaside park. The landscape was so lovely that I said out loud to my husband, “Wow, this is beautiful, I’d love to walk there!”

Maybe I sounded a bit too enthusiastic, because he answered by saying he’d like to visit New Zealand but wasn’t planning to move. Of course, I haven’t made any plans to move either, not having seen the country in real life yet; but I hope we’ll find many beautiful places when we visit.

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.”

On Wednesday afternoon in New Zealand, which was late Tuesday evening here in Ohio, the quarantine period for my daughter’s dog was over. She sent photos and videos of their happy reunion, with plenty of excited tail-wagging and jumping for joy. However unpleasant the quarantine might have been for the dog, all was quickly forgiven and left in the past.

If only humans could forgive and forget as easily as our pets, I expect we’d have a much better world.

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.”

My day was somewhat out of the usual routine, with an out-of-town errand in the morning and a short task during my afternoon break. Nothing too unusual about that; but after a hard rowing workout on the river, it had gotten dark by the time we left the boathouse, and I’d had no unscheduled time whatsoever to just chill out and relax during the day.

I reminded myself that there is only the present moment—so, if I want more time to rest, I already have as much of it right now as I’ll ever have.

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 New Zealand flight carrying our daughter and her dog is boarding now. It will arrive on Saturday morning there, which is Friday afternoon here. The time difference will take some getting used to, I’m sure. She has a job interview scheduled for Tuesday, and I expect she’ll do well despite such an exhausting trip.

I’ve been in the same job and house for many years, and I can’t see myself jumping into the unknown like that. Still, there’s a part of me that enjoys setting out on new adventures, like when I travel with my husband to a rowing regatta in a city where I’ve never been. One never knows when a new path might appear.

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.”