Well, the New Year of 2021 has begun. I hope you all had a blessed holiday and an opportunity to count your many blessings, along with staying at home and continuing to protect yourself and your loved ones through continued social distancing.
Typically, the New Year comes with many of us making those “resolutions” that we have all been guilty of breaking fairly soon. Sound familiar? I personally have not been successful in my past resolutions and prefer to call them “goals to achieve.” This doesn’t seem to put the same heavy burden as a ‘resolution’ does. Whatever you choose to call it, make sure you make it achievable.
Amidst the COVID-19 experiences we have all been bombarded with, I would love to take you and your mind elsewhere to share some exciting program news! We have received a grant from our UNCE (University Nevada Cooperative Extension) funder called “Healthy Aging- Gardening and Cooking Education.” We have a great curriculum ready to roll out ahead of the upcoming Spring season and it includes a full-fledged gardening project on-site here at WNP Life Center for our community to participate. We have a variety of little plants sprouting in our Hydroponic grow gardens that have been transplanted to the neo-nursery and are getting daily sunshine to harden up, so they can be out in the elements. This is all new to us and is an experiment in trust, growth, and being truly amazed. We will be posting several YouTube segments and virtual opportunities on this garden project in the next few weeks to share with everyone. If you would like to be part of the gardening program, please call and put your name on the “interest list.” You won’t be sorry!
We also will be joining our funder for virtual cooking classes starting January 13th and available to all by your computer. In February we will be conducting our own local cooking classes online and they will be available on YouTube for later review. We also hope to showcase using some of our herbs and fresh lettuces in our cooking segments. So, please watch for upcoming program announcements to be able to take yourself away to fun gardening and cooking opportunities with WNP Life Center.
We all have our own way of dealing with outside worries and daily conflicts. Not everyone is adept or willing to pray in the traditional way and we are spiritual in ways of our own choosing. We all need to have a hobby or two, so maybe gardening can become your new form of spiritual therapy. Russell Siler Jones, Th.D., LCMHCS writing for Psychology Today, has written some interesting articles in regard to gardening. Mr. Jones shares with his readers that he feels the importance of limiting news coverage and media consumption, where we are subjected to COVID-19, to only 19 minutes per day. He comments that “our nervous systems are being battered and shredded by our consumption on a daily basis, long-term.” Gardening can be an enjoyable daily task to assist us because people are drawn to the earth, and by giving yourself a “gardening stay-at-home order,” you will be protecting and investing in improving your life during these trying times of COVID-19.
Put some thought into this paragraph below (it should make you feel warmed, comfortable, and ready to garden): “Seed gets buried in soil, soil warms the seed, the seed opens to geminate; if it survives the weather, it sends out roots, then it sprouts above ground, gets leaves and then fruits.” I do not have any information to share with all of you at this time regarding our possible reopening plans in the future. We are all hoping that, as soon as we see some real changes in the spiking with regards to the past holidays and a better understanding and coverage of the upcoming vaccinations, we can eventually plan to all be together again taking part in our wonderful programs.
I wish each and every one of you and your family members the best that we can all seek out in 2021.
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