Too Small to Fail

Making changes can be hard.  But Arianna Huffington breaks it down - first time I have heard the term "microsteps" - all with the goal of "how we can actually be more productive when we prioritize our well-being and take time to unplug and recharge."  The very essence of balance.

It's not a new concept, but nice to get an additional take on the whole process and approachable phrasing to go with it.  As the article says, "behavior change ... is built on the idea of microsteps. These are small, actionable and science-backed steps you can take to make immediate changes in your daily life. It’s the idea that if you make the steps small enough, they’ll become too-small-to-fail. And as research has, starting small makes new habits more likely to stick."

She lays out a plan of ten microsteps.  Happy to say that some are already part of what I do - sitting down for meals, getting away from the desk at work.  But there certainly is room for incorporation of the others - lots of room.

And the approach works for other big goals too, which I have been trying to implement - weight loss and health, activism, many areas where microsteps can be applied.  Maybe those can be the subject of future blog posts - pathways to more content!

In From the Cold

As a caterpillar fattened itself for the coming Winter on the petunias, ...

... it was time to rescue the tender bonus hydrangea...

... and geranium...

... and strawberry plants, ...

...and do some seed gathering along the way. 

Their indoor home will be the planter vacated by one of the old mandevillas that got consolidated. 

Unorthodox gardening tools?  Perhaps slightly unorthodox....  Yes, that is a sled, liberated from the sidewalk piles, great for containing stray soil on slatted tables (and if we ever get our sledding hill back from the bulldozers behind Gracie Mansion, great for use by petite adults!).

And yes, disposable chopsticks wrappers repurposed as seed envelopes. 

And, yup, all of these plant transfers done on the convertible bench table used as half-table while the wooden table awaits repairs.  Repurposing and multitasking!

Marathon Sunday Captivity Activities - 2019

Yorkville life on Marathon Sunday.

Living on the east side of First Avenue, every first Sunday of November means we need to plan on staying put in the neighborhood until much of the New York City Marathon is over.  So, with the sun out yesterday, what better day to plan to transition the tropicals indoors?

But the day started with hauling out to cheer on a high school friend running in the marathon. In years past, sometimes I have missed my tracked runners altogether - easier now that there's a tracking app, but still, there are lots of runners to scan and locate. So this year, a sign was in order. And, drawing inspiration from all the other runners to get up and move...

... off to walk and check out the Smashing Pumpkins event at Andrew Haswell Green Park on the East River Esplanade ...

Finally, back to the task at hand. The old mandevillas did not grow much over the season, and some departed for plant heaven, so one got dug up and consolidated into the planter with the other old timer mandevilla; the interwebs say the tubers aren't really necessary to the plant, but just in case, I decided to move them too and delay any experimental trimming for next Spring. The baby apple trees grown from seeds of a delicious apple moved into the same planter - all a bit crowded, but they can keep each other company New York City style.

Happily, the Thai lime recovered from my neglect of last Winter. Not sure how it will do without a main leader trunk; we shall see. Bringing it in made clear there are little offshoots that will be too close to the main growths, so I decided to try to train them to grow a little more outward.

By dark (earlier now with the end of Daylight Saving time), everyone had been settled into the "Winter Greenhouse" - a.k.a. the unoccupied windowsills in the guestroom.

[Edited February 8, 2025 primarily to intersperse text with photos and remove "compromised" tag.]