Today we cleaned up the veggies and herbs that never fully came to be this summer, admitting aloud that up here in Alaska, we prefer growing flowers to food. We also meandered through the market and bought others’ hard work, and sat by the sea with fresh oysters, and walked to watch our children perform at the local theater, and shared gelato with our neighbors, and wondered aloud at this marvelous town in which we’ve landed.
This morning, I got to announce that we are down to only two residents with COVID-19 in Long Term Care. This evening, I got to make supper with my daughters. Today was a good day.
Tonight, I read aloud from Go Set a Watchman as my husband got ready for bed. As he climbed in and nestled in next to me, I realized that getting that man interested in my favorite lit selections is toward the top of the list of romantic things that happen between us.
There are few snags in life the smell of the sea cannot soothe.
The smell of the sea, and an early 2000’s playlist.
I bolted out of work just after lunch, grabbing a coworker on the way to my car. We scooped up the kids and headed straight for the harbor, where the Yale Whiffenpoofs had set up for a quick concert in our amphitheater on their hometown tour. I was back in time for my next meeting, and the whole thing was just as magical and sweet as our Gilmore Girls experience told us it would be. We love you, Richard Gilmore. We love you, Homer, Alaska.
The very first move I made after accepting the challenge of Chief Nursing Officer was to gather the people. Every Monday afternoon, I ask leaders from all over the organization to sit at a conference table for an hour and talk about issues impacting the nursing workforce. It’s been seven months now, and they keep showing up. We are not solving giant, global issues but we are making incremental deposits of trust into one another. We are building bridges, not silos. I have to believe that kind of earned relational equity eventually cashes itself in and solves giant, global issues. Gathering the people seems to do that.
Six residents are out of isolation. No new cases have been identified in the past three days. I didn’t get called into work this weekend. Thankful.