fitness · planning

Little buds of optimism in January

catherine w

It’s January. It’s cold. It snowed this weekend. Here’s what it looks like outside my house:

Wintry snowy scene (about 3 inches/6 cm) outside my house.
Wintry snowy scene (about 3 inches/6 cm) outside my house.

Of course, other places got more snow this weekend:

Two brave Newfoundland snowplows, making their way to open up a highway (yes, that's right).
Two brave Newfoundland snowplows, making their way to open up a highway (yes, that’s right).

Yeah, it’s January.

Despite all this January-ness, I’m finding little signs of spring. Yesterday I noticed that a few of my orchids are putting out new shoots with buds.

  • Orchid budding.
    Orchid budding.
  • One little bud on this one.
  • A light green shoot with bud.

These orchids, by the way, are the champions of consistent, independent plant performance. I bought them at IKEA years ago for $11.99 apiece, and they have kept blooming and re-blooming, with very little help from me. What can I say, I think they like it here.

Budding plants are my favorite sign of optimism for the future. We don’t know that blooms will happen, and in the case of these orchids, it’s going to take some time for them to come into full flower. But as long as I pay a modicum of attention to them, they’ll do what they do, and I’ll be rewarded with blooms like these (this one’s from last March):

White orchid blooms in various stages.
White orchid blooms in various stages.

This week, I was feeling some budding of my own optimism. I signed up for the Bikes Not Bombs bike-a-thon for this June 14. I’m doing the 30-mile ride and fundraising for this organization that gives bikes to kids, teaches them how to ride and maintain bikes, and how to be good world citizens through bike riding.

Bikes not Bombs bike-a-thon-- I'm registered!
Bikes not Bombs bike-a-thon– I’m registered!

And yes, there’s a little fundraising.

Getting started with donations-- $25 down, $175 to go.
Getting started with donations– $25 down, $175 to go.

Signing up for a June charity ride has got me feeling excited about spring and summer riding already. Of course, I’ve got to pay attention to preparation (yes, this means riding the trainer) in order for my riding to be in full flower by June. My orchids and me– we’ve got some work to do. And this is the time for it.

Color me smiling.

Smiling emoji, filling in for smiling Catherine.
Smiling emoji, filling in for smiling Catherine.

Hey readers, what are you thinking about this January? Any budding thoughts or plans for spring and summer activities? How are you feeling about them? I’d love to hear from you.

Published by catherine w

I'm a feminist public health ethicist (yes, that's a thing). I'm interested in heath behavior change, particularly around eating and activity, and how things other than knowledge affect our health decisions.I'm also a cyclist (road, sort-of-off-road, commuter), regular yoga-doer, occasional swimmer and kayaker and leisurely social walker.

3 thoughts on “Little buds of optimism in January”

  2. Hey, we have one of those IKEA orchids and they are indestructible! We don’t generally do too well with house plants, but this one seems to keep itself alive. I love it!

  3. Lovely orchids!
    Alberta just left behind temporarily, over a week of -30 C winter days with up to -40 C windchill. So we are living in a reprieve right now.

    My plans for spring of course, include more cycling….unfortunately e-scootering became very popular and my effort is to avoid them since a lot of them seem hesitant/don’t know what they doing.

Comments are closed.