"Lot's of people go mad in January. Not as many as in May, of course.
Nor June. But January is your third most common month for madness."
~Karen Joy Fowler
The month of January was a relatively busy and fun month. It began with finalizing the New Year's trip to Mesquite, then a really interesting visit and tour at the Petersen Automotive Museum with Steve & Karan, then a fun Harley Day-Ride with Tracy up Azusa Canyon to Crystal Lake, next was my annual Park City Ski Trip with a group of friends where we skied Park City Resort, Deer Valley and then ventured north to Logan to ski Beaver Mountain, and finally a challenging ice skating activity at the Eccles Ice Center in Logan with a bunch of the Coverts, cousin Judy and her family, and cousin Dee. Each of these bucket-list activities were published as individual blogs. In addition to these activities, I published blogs recognizing January birthdays, some favorite family photos, an updated planning schedule, and an updated Last Name Glossary.
Unfortunately, two bucket-list activities that had been planned were missed this month. Conflicts and lack of local snow eliminated any skiing in Big Bear, and Espi had a conflict so we cancelled a planned hike to Henninger Flats.
This blog summarizes other "non bucket-list activities" during the month of January in the category of Activities and Visiting With Friends & Family and Miscellaneous Other.
Activities With Family-
Periodically, when Heather has conflicts with her work, Bonnie & I pick Griffin up from school. That was the case on Tuesday January 9th. I picked Griffin up at Holly Avenue School about 1:30 pm and we went home where Griffin had some lunch and did his homework. It's always fun to visit with Griffin one-on-one versus in a big family gathering. It was raining today as shown in the photo below at the school. Later he was doing his homework.
Click Photo to Enlarge - Use Arrows for Next Photo
Just a brief note about the day I picked Griffin up from school: January 9th was the day that Southern California got hit by a horrendous rain storm, the first rain in many months. The storm come immediately after the devastating Thomas fire (and other wildfires), and those areas were hit by significant flooding and deadly mudslides. At least 21 people have died in Montecito, (near Santa Barbara), there were 70 homes destroyed, and over 400 homes damaged. The news coverage showing videos and photos of searches for missing people, rescues, homes under mudslides, etc. have been shocking. The 101 Freeway at Santa Barbara was covered with mud, boulders, and other debris and was closed for two weeks while workers worked round the clock to clean it up.
On January 18th Tracy had arranged to have new shutters installed at her home in Glendora. I went to her place early that morning and removed her old blinds to allow for the new shutters. Jenny dropped by (she lives within a mile from Tracy's place) so the three of us had a nice visit.
While I was in Logan on the extended Park City Ski Trip, I spent a couple of hours visiting with Julie & Jim at their home in Providence. They have a number of interesting challenges, but seem to be doing very well. They have a wonderful family and I got a brief update on each of their kids; Jerilyn & Steve, Jill & Jeff, Emily & Brad, Matthew, and Christopher.
Activities With Friends-
Poke-In - I attended the monthly poker club meeting at John B's home on January 10th where he served a delicious steak and lobster dinner. Attendees were Mike A, John B, Bill B, Gary B, Steve H, Gary N, Don R, Tye, Art W, and myself. As usual it was a lot of fun. Since we play a very low stakes game (nickel, dime, quarter), not much money ever changes hands. I think I won $3, which is big based on my history.
Park City Booze Run - With the annual Park City Ski Trip approaching, I met with Art H and Tim on January 17th at Ralph's grocery store to purchase supplies for the 5-day trip. Alcoholic beverages are so expensive in Utah (purchased only at the state controlled liquor store) that each year we purchase the estimated consumption of adult beverages in California and take it with us as we drive across the border (I hope no law officers are reading this blog). After the shopping spree we went to Matt Denny's for lunch and a lively discussion on the stock market, cryptocurrencies, and activities on past ski trips (this year is the 44th annual Park City Ski Trip).
Beaver Mountain Extension of the Park City Ski Trip - I had some fun visits with friends while in Logan on our extended ski trip. On our first night in town, Art, Gary and I, spent some time visiting with Quent & Barbara at their home and then went out to Panda Express for dinner. On Monday night, after a day of skiing at Beaver Mountain, Art, Gary and I, and Ted & Dixie met at Quent & Barbara's home for cocktails and a visit and then we all went to the Beehive Grill for dinner. These "get-togethers" are always lively and fun. On Tuesday morning, Art and I joined Quent & Barbara for breakfast at Herm's Grill, a really fun reconditioned Logan historical cafe.
During these days in Logan Quent & Barbara were kind enough to let me use their home WiFi to work on my Year 77 blogs that were in process.
Surprise a Stranger- Just for fun I've been giving a gift of $7 to a stranger on the 7th day of each month (or another day if the 7th doesn't work) with a brief explanation as to why I'm doing it (I'm sure they think I'm crazy). I attach an explanatory note to a 5-dollar bill and a 2-dollar bill. This month was a little different from past months - rather than just bumping into a stranger, I sought out a specific stranger. Bonnie has been receiving a small desk calendar in the mail for many years from Linden Optometry - a company we have never done business with. However, this calendar fits perfectly on her small desk and she always comments on how she just loves that calendar and appreciates that they send it each year.
So on Monday, January 8th, I drove to the Linden Optometry store on Colorado Blvd in Pasadena to deliver my small gift to a stranger; i.e. I was specifying the head person at Linden, but nevertheless it was a stranger to me. The receptionist enjoyed the story, as I related my history with the number seven and how my wife appreciated the annual gift of the Linden calendar. The receptionist said Emily Linden, daughter of the founder of the company, was running the company now and would surely enjoy the story and appreciate the small gift. I would have liked to hand the gift to the owner myself, but knew she would probably be too busy for that, and the receptionist seemed perfectly able to relate the story I had told her.
The first photo below shows how nicely the Linden calendar fits on Bonnie's desk. The second photo is the entrance to Linden Optometry in Pasadena.
Click Photo to Enlarge - Use Arrows for Next Photo
Good Deeds- I have an objective to be more aware of the opportunities to do a good deed. I'm sure that opportunities are all around me, but I seem to have difficulty recognizing these situations. Nevertheless, I'll keep trying. Any such activities during January were to insignificant to mention.
January was an interesting month, even though a couple of the planned bucket-list activities were not accomplished. Nevertheless, there were lots of fun activities and visits with friends and family members. I'm looking forward to a fun month in February.
