Meg Evans

Because it has been unusually warm this week, my husband and I decided to go rowing yesterday. We hadn’t gone out since November, and we’d been looking forward to another enjoyable season with our rowing club. Summer and its long sunny days seemed right around the corner!
 

The forecast called for occasional light showers, though, and when we got to the boathouse there wasn’t anyone else around. Then the rain started coming down harder, and an updated forecast showed more of it blowing in. But since we were already there, we decided to go for a short row anyway. It was good to get out and enjoy nature, even with a little rain!

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.

People nowadays are so busy that when we have good feelings about others, we might not take the time to give a compliment or even think about it. So I decided to post this word-art image for Nurturing Thursday and share a bit of cheerful encouragement!
 

Wishing everyone an amazing day full of joys and successes—and as for the people in your life who make you happy, it doesn’t take much time to give them compliments and spread some good cheer around!

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 it was snowy and blustery when I looked outside. My first reaction was along the lines of, “Oh no, snow again, isn’t it time for spring and green grass already?” But then I thought about the frigid winter we had two years ago, when I posted this February photo of bushes covered in ice:
 

I’ve generally been trying to cultivate a habit of asking myself, when I feel like complaining about some trivial thing, “Compared to what?” The truth is, most of the stuff that we complain about is totally unimportant, and often it’s not even bad by comparison to the same thing at a different time!

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.

After a dark wintery week, I was very glad to see the sun this morning, and I opened the wooden blinds in my family room right away. There’s still no furniture other than a rocking chair because filling in the space never felt right to me, as I mentioned in a previous post. But it’s lovely in the sunshine; and even though the sky soon turned hazy, reminding me of the old song “Hazy Shades of Winter,” all that wide open space left me feeling cheerful anyway.
 

Maybe it’s the angle of the sun as it slants more steeply through the windows, reassuring my subconscious mind that spring is not far away. Whatever it may be, I hope that everyone reading this post has a comfortable place at home that inspires cheerful feelings too!

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.

I received an email from a coworker on Tuesday with a fun word-art image about spreading happiness like jam, which gave me a smile on a dark winter afternoon. So, I decided to share it for today’s post and spread some happiness for Nurturing Thursday.
 

And, I’m happy to report that when I ate a yummy sourdough English muffin with apricot jam for my breakfast today, I did not get any jam on myself. I hope your day got off to a good start too!

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 time of year, many folks in the Northern Hemisphere start feeling like we’ve had enough of winter and are counting the days till spring. But rather than grumbling, we should enjoy and try to make the best of each day instead, even if there happens to be snow in it! So I decided that this word-art image would make a good Nurturing Thursday post.
 

This morning I glanced out the window at some flurries and thought about how soft and pretty they looked, and how easy they were to appreciate from the comfortable warmth indoors! When we take the time to look around, there’s always something to turn ordinary days into “days that count.” Wishing all my readers a joyful week full of great days too!

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.

I am writing this post on a desktop computer where the background images are a collection of landscapes with paths, which change automatically from one to another every few minutes. My husband found them last year. They’ve been very good for my soul, inviting me to go for refreshing imaginary walks along those peaceful paths, rather than just sitting in my chair focused entirely on producing words on a white screen.

I’ve also found myself drawn to similar images when I look through the online gallery for the digital art display I got for Christmas. At present, I have it set to display a wooden bridge or walkway leading to a beach, with palm trees and other tropical plants on both sides. This picture makes me feel almost as if I could step into the frame and be somewhere far away on a magical adventure.
 

We have many stories like that in our culture—the Narnia books and the Myst game come to mind. These familiar stories speak to a truth that our ancestors knew long ago, when they put on animal masks and danced with the tribe’s guardian spirits. Our world really does feel more magical when we surround ourselves with bright, fanciful images that call us to explore it!

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 woke up and saw bright sunshine this morning, after a cold and snowy week, it gave me a cheerful smile to start the day. So today I’m wishing sunny smiles to everyone for Nurturing Thursday!
 

Even (or perhaps especially) in the middle of winter when it seems like there’s not much to look at but snow and ice, we should keep in mind that there are always reasons to smile!

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.

Although this week has been snowy here, the season has been warmer than usual. I noticed last weekend that some of my spring bulbs were starting to send up little shoots, as if they’d somehow gotten the idea that winter might already be over. I was going to take a photo, but then it snowed, and all that could be seen was the tip of one hyacinth peeking through the snow cover.
 

I have to wonder if I’m going to get any blooms out of them this spring, as early as they’re coming up. But, I have to say I admire their optimism!

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.

My work schedule got unexpectedly rearranged this week, just after coming back from my end-of-year vacation, because I got “volunteered” to help with another group’s project. Of course, that’s not at all unusual in the corporate world; and though it can be uncomfortable to be pushed out of one’s usual routine, sometimes that can be a useful nudge to avoid getting stuck in a rut. It’s all too easy to end up always doing the same work, without thinking of much beyond getting a paycheck and buying more stuff.
 

Although I’m enjoying the new things my family got for Christmas, there is certainly much more to a happy life besides how we spend our money. It’s always good to be reminded of that, even if the catalyst for reflection might sometimes be a bit of workplace distraction!

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.