Several years ago, my friend Elizabeth Burke and I rowed twice a week through the Seattle winter. We ventured out without fail as dawn was breaking - rowing two single shells or a double. We'd row from the Fremont Bridge to the Chittenden Locks and back, or maybe across Lake Union and on to Lake Washington. Sometimes we'd come back to our home at the Lake Washington Rowing Club and wipe the ice off our boats. But we always came back with an irrefutable sense of moral superiority! We'd done it again!

Rowing - particularly Rowing Through the Winter - provides a richness of metaphors...instructive in my life as a Family Physician and the Home Dialysis CarePartner for my profoundly ill husband, Steve Williams. Now that Steve is gone, rowing reminds me of consistency and focus - so critical during grieving. Rowing requires balance, as does my life.

Row with me this winter. Linda Gromko, MD

Monday, December 19, 2011

There's nothing like winter morning rowing...

When everyone's so busy, when life is so uncertain, it's good to have things you can count on. Like uneven blade depth or rushing the slide? Perhaps.

Early morning in the winter is a fabulous time to row - before the wind kicks up. We so often get a window of no rain, even in a rainy spell.

Here's a shot of an early December morning, taken with my Blackberry phone a few days ago.

Hard to beat.

Take care,
Linda Gromko, MD

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