Hi all and welcome to the second edition of guest host check-in and the last weekend check-in of 2019! But other than those two facts, it’s still the same old place where we meet and share how was our day, or what we plan to make of it, fitness-wise or not, struggles or victories, rants or inspiring words, workouts, food, anything and everything. Whatever mood you’re in today, and whether you ever checked-in before or not, everyone is welcome, our ears and hearts are open :)

*digression: if you filled out FB’s most recent survey, how did you feel about that private-groups suggestion? I must admit I have mixed feelings… I am freakishly private and cringe at the thought that what we share here is for everyone to see, but I also remember I was that "everyone" at some point, and if private groups had already existed when I was a newbie, I think I would be much less inclined to ever start communicating here. I don't know, can something be private while at the same time feel warmly welcoming to new members?

But! I promised Raven to keep it to “normal talk” haha so before getting too tangled in assumptions about something that may or may not happen in the future, let’s focus on the present:

How are you feeling, what are you doing, what are you cooking, or eating if someone else is cooking (lucky you!), are you working out or resting, or enjoying some activity that will end up in custom workouts, or getting drained unwillingly by things other than workouts (in which case, hang in there, tomorrow is another day! ;))

I'm on Day 24 of Adventure with https://www.fitnessblender.com/videos/intense-at-home-hiit-cardio-and-abs-workout-abs-on-fire A 30 min level 4 hiit and core should be right up my alley and I know I've done this video before but it's not in my favorites so I'm curious to see why we didn't click (or maybe I'll totally enjoy it this time) Will find out soon, starting it right after I post.

And to finally get to the pic, because we can’t have a check-in without a pic, right? :) I wanted to stay in the tradition of something botanical so – ta-daaaa! It's not recent though, I shot it in autumn 2018. Turns out same time the tree was a finalist of “European tree of the year” (I had no idea when I was there, learned about it now when I was googling it, what a cool coincidence :) https://www.treeoftheyear.org/Previous-Years/2018/Mohutny-platan-symbol-Trstena?lang=en-US)

So... if you clicked the link you already know it's a 500 years old, huge (5 meters diameter) oriental plane tree in Trsteno, Croatia, which btw is a completely magical place not just for that one tree but for an entire Arboretum founded in 15th century (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trsteno_Arboretum) with many other gorgeous plants and trees brought there the same way, by seafarers from far away lands, to be planted and preserved. (fun fact for GoT fans - it's the filming location that represented Tyrell Gardens)

... Back to the plane pic. My favorite detail is that stone column placed to hold its big and heavy branch, isn't it charming? And of course, the fact that the tree is 500 years old is so fascinating! (further googling led me to discover that this one is actually a baby, there is a 9500 years old tree in Sweden, my Lord! :O)

Just imagine, people come and go, their creations and inventions and fashions come and go, centuries come and go, and there are trees that were there for all of it and still are. And they're alive! Not dead witnesses like old architecture but living breathing organisms that sent off hundreds and thousands of human generations. Makes you think how small and insignificant we are, huh? ... Sorry if this sounded depressing, BUT the silver lining is, when thinking like that, our daily troubles seem less significant too, right? And maybe "being small" we can actually enjoy and appreciate life better, with all its imperfections. Something along those lines is what I tell myself when I need encouragement - "If I were to die tomorrow (and I don't know that I won't), would I allow myself to be anxious about what life offers me today? Nope!" Hope I saved it (as much as it's possible to save anything from being depressing by talking about mortality lol)

Anyway, I'm aware this post was overdue for wrap-up since several paragraphs ago, sorry :) but I thought it was an apt theme, the passing of time, now that we are so near to saying goodbye to 2019, with the usual accompanying thoughts of "how did it fly by so fast?" Well, it did, and all we can do to feel better about it is embrace TODAY. So let's! For starters, feel free to ignore all my endless rambling and tell me about your day.

(and if by any chance you have a pic of a tree you know the age of or that means something to you, old Ms. Plane would love to meet it :) Because alas, however limitless they are in time, they are so bounded in space!)

Thanks for checking in, Blenders, if there's anyone still here that is, haha