It’s just after ten p.m. on Wednesday evening, and M and I are sitting in the back room catching up on a few things and just catching up.
I was looking through my photos from our garden visit this morning, and we’ve been laughing at all the bunny shots in the bunch. Many of them are blurry – because the bunny hopped through a good portion of the garden, but I caught a few of the quieter moments.
F’s been wearing “costumes” all week to camp – she’s always really into accessorizing, and this week’s theme is her animal mask collection. She’s turning her t-shirts inside out so that they are solid colors that match her masks. It’s a great look, and makes me laugh each morning.
We got caught in a brief shower this morning – very brief, maybe five minutes tops. It did very little for the heat or humidity issues of late. Today was so hot, and with a few schedule switch-ups this week, I knew today was a run day – like it or not. I did it, and made it home in time to find a lovely dinner on the table, and then I headed back out to power yoga. This isn’t my normal schedule, (and it sounds indulgent), but it’s just the way this Wednesday shaped up. Now that I’m on the flip side of it, it feels good. Good that we made the effort to get up a little earlier and spend some time together in the garden, good that I pushed through the heat and even set a PR for a 5.5 mile run (I did stop my watch for frequent water fountain breaks, which I don’t usually bother with). And then – for the first time ever – I went up into a forearm handstand and a tripod handstand in class tonight, despite being more than a little wiped out.
I don’t aim for these kind of super charged days; in fact, I try for the opposite. But each week is different, and we’ve gotten really good at adjusting things with the end goal of balance, while not letting go of those things that make us healthy and happy and sane. I thought about this a lot while I was running today. I started to wonder who this person was – I was the absolute hands-down queen of making excuses not to do hard things – especially hard physical things. And now I just do them, and doing them when it’s hard and sweaty and smelly and rough feels that much better when I’m done.
F likes to complain on Wednesday mornings when I wake her up. She sees the camera on the stairs and she remembers it’s garden morning, and she throws down her litany of complaints. I used to ignore them, but now I do something different. I say “The garden is important to me, and I love the way I feel after I’ve walked through it. It’s not the easiest path to get there, but it’s worth it.” I’m not sure what she takes away from these weekly discussions, but I hope that it’s this: There are things in life that are worth the effort. They aren’t always the easiest things to start, but we are lucky that we get the chance to see them through, and benefit from the gift of an open running trail, a yoga mat, a good dinner, a project finished, a creative day at work, a fascinating read, mastering a new song, deepening a relationship, the peacefulness of a beautiful garden.
The girls transform once we arrive. We have so many things to talk about. We launch into our days refreshed, connected. It’s worth it.
What a lovely post. I like the idea of keeping that in mind and teaching my son to keep it in mind.
A lovely post!! Beautiful pics!
Love this and the bunny shots! I miss that willingness to wear a costume if that is what makes you happy – the preteen and teenager have lost it, and I probably don’t want to know how the college student has embraced it! In our family we call those difficult things that are worth the effort ‘playing the long game” – there may be easier, quicker fixes, but if you are playing the long game than you stay the course and do the difficult work. There was a great article in the Washington Post about Katie Ledecky recently along these lines – E might enjoy reading it. https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/how-katie-ledecky-became-better-at-swimming-than-anyone-is-at-anything/2016/06/23/01933534-2f31-11e6-9b37-42985f6a265c_story.html
Fascinating article, Kendra. Thanks for sharing. I passed it on to M and E. We’ve been enjoying the swimming / diving / gymnastics qualifiers this week while on vacation.
I LOVE this tradition you have with the girls. I may just steal it next year when Finn’s a little older. I like to make it to the gardens at least once a week, it’s always amazing.