Meg Evans

As the holiday season begins, I’m remembering what it was like to decorate the Christmas tree as a child. The strands of tinsel gleamed like magical highways in the sky, winding their way around the bright starry lights. I imagined the ornaments happily traveling to different parts of the tree to visit one another. Sometimes I rearranged them while playing out that scenario.

While sparkly decorations don’t seem as fascinating once we’ve grown up, it probably would do us some good, every now and again, to find a little magic in our surroundings.

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.”

After an evening workout on the rowing machine, I was wondering whether I should go write my Nurturing Thursday post or do an hour of continuing education, which has a year-end deadline approaching. I decided to write a post first and then do an online course. Instead of getting to it right away, though, I spent some time looking at images on Pinterest. Such is life in the modern world.

Looking at it more positively, I was not just wasting time online; rather, I was choosing to rest and relax for a while, understanding that self-nurturing should be a priority, and there is, in fact, plenty of time to deal with the to-dos. I’m off to start the course 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.”

I’m off again with my husband for another rowing trip, to Chattanooga for the Head of the Hooch regatta, which is always the first weekend in November, on the Tennessee River. It previously was held on the Chattahoochee River, hence the name. We’ve rowed there many times, but now we are staying for a week at an Airbnb in Chattanooga, rather than just for the weekend as before. Now that both of us work remotely, there’s no need to hurry home, as we used to do when he had to be in the office on Monday. We can stay for a while and enjoy the adventure.

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.”

After packing for this weekend’s trip south, I’m still feeling calmer than in past years when we traveled to rowing regattas multiple times in October during the fall racing season. Keeping work and travel separate in my mind, without getting stressed about how much time will be needed for each of them, now feels more manageable than it once did.

Perhaps it’s because my work has become more predictable regarding the use of AI—which, so far, has improved my workgroup’s productivity without any layoffs. Those who retired in the past few years have not been replaced, but there doesn’t seem to be any urgency to cut costs further.

I feel as if a small inner voice is whispering to me that it’s all going to be okay…

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 fall rowing season is underway, with 5K regattas every weekend. I raced the double in Pittsburgh with my husband on Saturday, and we did well, improving on last year’s time by half a minute and taking second place. This weekend we’re off to Nashville for the Music City Regatta. It’s a busy schedule, with plenty of adventures; but of course, just going out the door can land people in unexpected places.

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 haven’t done any gardening recently, but all the colorful garden photos my daughter has been sending from Auckland have me thinking about it, anyway. I suppose that’s a start!

Here’s a word-art image that fits the theme:

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.”

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.”