This evening, my husband and I rowed our singles again. We didn’t row them much in the spring because many days had windy and choppy conditions, so we usually rowed the double for more stability. As a result, I’ve been feeling out of practice in my single. Leaving the dock, I didn’t judge the wind properly, got blown back in, and had to launch my boat all over again.

My husband pointed out that even though I may not feel as confident in my single as I would like to be, I do race it regularly. That is more than many people do, and those who stay home probably see me as very brave and capable. It’s all a matter of perspective.

Word-art that says, "Don't compare your life to others. There's no comparison between the sun and the moon. They shine when it's their time."

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 daughter plans to become a world traveler; she’s moving to New Zealand next week. She is a neonatal intensive care nurse, so finding a job anywhere is not a problem for her, given the worldwide shortage of nurses. It should be quite an adventure, once she gets packed and ready. She gave up her rental house on Saturday, brought her stuff here, and piled much of it in our family room.


After several days of going through it all, giving some things to friends and donating others, she has her suitcases packed for the trip and a bit of extra stuff (mostly clothes) that will stay in her bedroom here. The family room is back to normal, except for the occasional dog bone or chew toy. Here’s a link to a post I wrote about her dog fully 11 years ago on this blog, as a little puppy. Wow, time flies.

When I rowed on Tuesday afternoon with my husband, it was another hot and humid day, and we got chased off the water by thunder after just one short lap. Still, it was a good day. I felt more confident rowing my single in the wind, and we didn’t get rained on while washing the boats and putting them away.

By the next morning, the temperature was much cooler; it looks as if the heat wave may finally have broken. More good days to come!

Word-art that says, "Make today a good day."

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.”

I’m writing this post on a Friday morning after a week that felt hectic. Thursday turned into a long day, and there didn’t seem to be much sense in pushing myself to write a blog post late in the evening when I hadn’t gotten to it earlier, so I decided to let it wait.

Everything was good, but I had more errands and distractions than usual this week, and by Wednesday afternoon I felt tired and cranky. Having to hurry down to the river by midafternoon to do a long, exhausting rowing exercise in the heat, so that my husband and I could join a Zoom at 5:30 for the rowing club’s board meeting, left me grumbling to myself as I got into the boat.

After doing the exercise, getting my heart rate up, and flushing out those bad-mood chemicals, I felt much better. As we came back to the dock, my husband said how glad he was to have a wife who enjoyed getting out and rowing with him regularly. I replied that it’s good for both of us. On days when I get too focused on the “weeds” of everyday life, he reminds me of the magic.

Word-art that says, "To love a person is to see all of their magic, and to remind them of it when they have forgotten."

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.”

This week my husband has been working a bit later than usual, but I haven’t minded waiting to go out because the evenings are pleasantly cool. Today we saw a night heron standing on the edge of the dock as we came in. It didn’t seem at all disturbed by the boat and only moved after we got out.

A large groundhog has done a lot of digging around the boathouse. Last week, one of our club members filled in some of the holes and neatly smoothed out the dirt. I expected the groundhog would just dig them all again, since that’s what they do; but although two holes came back quickly, another filled-in area was left undisturbed. My husband and I saw the groundhog when we drove into the parking lot. She looked confused, as if she had been about to run to her burrow, but she wasn’t quite sure where to find it anymore. Then she found another entrance and vanished from sight.

Word-art that says, "Of all the paths you take in life, make sure some of them are dirt."

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.”

August 7, 2025 · Write a comment · Categories: Musings · Tags:

Yesterday morning, I woke up with my hair sticking out weirdly on the left side, and brushing didn’t quite get it back to normal. When I went rowing in the afternoon, my bad hair wasn’t an issue because I wore a hat for sun protection, as usual. And it was also a good hair day, of sorts, because the problem I had last fall with sweaty hands making it hard to hold my oars has now been fixed—very simply, with hair bands.

Photo of four small brown hair bands.

At the RowFest regatta two weeks ago, I mentioned it to Rhonda, my women’s double partner, and she told me that she knew a woman who’d had the same problem and solved it by wrapping hair bands around the oar handles. They improve grip and are thinner than sweat bands, so they don’t get in the way. I took that advice and have been feeling much more confident about rowing my single. I rowed it both yesterday and Tuesday, without any worries about keeping a good grip on the oars. Yay for simple solutions!

I’m posting this entry on Friday afternoon because I forgot to write a Nurturing Thursday post yesterday. Rather than letting negative self-talk occupy any space inside my head, I’m just allowing it to pass as something that happens, making a point of being nice to myself.

Word-art that says, "You spend most of your life inside your head. Make it a nice place to be."

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.”

July 27, 2025 · Write a comment · Categories: Musings · Tags: ,

Lantana is one of my favorite annual flowers, and I often plant it under the mailbox. This year I added some variety by planting hibiscus, which is one of my daughter’s favorites, and mandevilla. The lantana grew much more robustly and crowded out the others to a large extent. I noticed on Thursday that the hibiscus had one large yellow bloom, framed by lantana above and mandevilla below. I took a photo for my daughter.

Photo of annual flowers under the mailbox.

She was happy that I sent the photo to her and that the hibiscus had found a place to bloom. Even though it produced only one flower on that day, there was enough space for it.

During the RowFest national regatta last week, which was held on Lake Ford in Michigan, I raced my single on Friday afternoon. I’m always somewhat nervous about it because most of my rowing has been in the double, which is larger and steadier. The single is a narrow little boat that can be hard to control in the wind.

Last Thursday had such high winds that many races were canceled. I rowed the double with my husband, but it was still windy and choppy enough that we couldn’t get much speed. That gave me some anxiety about going out in the single the next day. Better conditions were predicted, but Thursday’s wind had been worse than the forecast, so I couldn’t be sure how things might turn out. I told myself to stop worrying about it.

As it happened, Friday afternoon had little wind and the best conditions of the regatta. I felt all right about racing the single, although I didn’t win a medal in that race. I stayed even with one of my competitors all the way down the course, but she put on more speed at the end and finished ahead of me. That didn’t bother me too much, however. My husband told me later that she’d said, after the race, that she and her husband had been trying to beat us for a long time and saw us as their benchmark. That left me feeling happier!

Word-art that says, "Sometimes the magic happens when you stop worrying about how things will turn out."

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.”

Following up on Tuesday’s post about being prepared for weather, here’s an inspiring thought from Rumi about morning sunlight breaking through dark storms. Happy Thursday!

Word-art that says, "There is a morning inside you waiting to burst open into light." -Rumi

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.”