A daily dose of happiness
This is the most beautiful February I’ve had in a climate that actually has seasons. I have been taking walks, working in the garden, and generally escaping outside as often as I can. This afternoon we took a trip to Bodnant Garden and had a beautiful visit. Most of my photos are still on my camera, but I grabbed this picture of some of the many snowdrops sprinkled throughout the grounds — the only kind of snow we’re likely to for the rest of this “winter”!
During a walk last weekend, I stopped after noticing a flock of little birds looking for food near the edge of the water. It was calming to take a few minutes to just stand and watch them.
Today, I spotted another flock in a different place on the water’s edge. The tide was going out — much more quickly than I’d expected — and I captured it in this time lapse video. Apologies for the shakiness; it was hard to stay steady with the gusts of wind.
This coot made quite a fuss, flapping and paddling as it tried to keep up with our little boat on the Amstel river in Amsterdam.
It was probably not the best idea to try a walk like this when I was battling a cold, but the canal was lovely and I couldn’t resist the sunshine. ☀️
Spotted on a walk past the Manchester Museum, this neon sign is a piece of artwork by Waqas Khan that means “welcome.”
I am not a gym-lover. I am not a runner. I am also not consistent about practicing yoga, even though I love it.
But I know this about myself: If I find a way to be even slightly active during the day, I will be happier for it.
And so I have been working on that. I have done 20-minute yoga classes, because sometimes I have to ignore my judgy, perfectionist brain telling me I really should practice for an hour and be realistic about what’s going to happen. I tried a Zumba class because 45 minutes of feeling silly was absolutely worth the happy-exhausted feeling I ended with. I even joined a gym because knowing that my husband also plans to go will at least get me out of the house and moving a couple times a week.
And today? Today I did none of those things. Today I opted to walk the 20 minutes between my dentist’s office and a coffee shop, and that was most of my activity for the day. And it counted — my brain and my body tell me it was worth it.
