Monday, January 23: The road/shoulder outside my house is the widest and flattest space on our street. People use it to turn around and head up the hill instead of trying to make the super sharp turn to the next road up. The folks in the condo building next door use it to park when their driveway is too slippery to navigate. The snowplows sometimes congregate here to discuss their next moves (I assume that’s what they’re doing). On this day, a big truck loaded with steel beams showed up, along with a little orange tractor. They unloaded the beams from the truck right onto the street, then moved the truck out of the way so they could attach chains to the beams in such a way that the tractor could drag them up the road that goes uphill from here. Good thing there was snow on the ground to serve as a slippery surface, though perhaps that snow is what made the driver of the big truck reluctant to try the hill himself.

 

Tuesday, January 24: Ski day. The snow is holding up nicely. Not nice was finding one of the ski paths back to the village roped off where they’ve staked it out for lots for folks to build on. Seems folks who live in the condos that are already built lower down that path would need it to access their places, so maybe it was a temporary thing.

 
Wednesday, January 25: These two guys were sitting on the steps that lead up to my studio in town. No idea why. I left them there in case someone misses them and comes back to retrieve them.

 
Thursday, January 26: A friend from Michigan flew in to visit for a long weekend. One of the places I took them was the walking path along the lake in town. I didn’t push my city friend to walk the whole trail, just enough to get to a spot where we could sit and contemplate the wintery beauty of the scene.

 
Friday, January 27: Spent some time in the studio with my friend, who helped me go through some things and decided what to donate to charity. They listened to my stories about the stuff (which they had no emotional attachment to) and gently nudged me to not get bogged down when I needed it. I’m hanging on to this afghan made by my paternal grandmother because it’s one of the few things I have from her, plus it’s colorful and warm and makes me smile. After the studio, my friend and I had lunch downtown and walked around looking in shops until it got dark (most shops close around then anyway).

 
Saturday, January 28: On my friend’s last full day of their trip, we went down to the cities (small and big). Had a yummy Indian lunch, got them checked into their hotel by the airport, then did some shopping. This mural is one of several we saw in Spokane when driving around. Later that night, we were surprised to get a glimpse of fireworks. I looked online later and found it was part of a Lunar New Year celebration near the riverfront.

 
Sunday, January 29: Spent this cold and windy day inside, resting up after being so social when my friend was here.

 

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On this date in 2015 to 2022: No entries.
2014: I’m Dreaming of Igigi
2013: No entry
2012: Snow and Ice and Wind, Oh My
2008 to 2011: No entries
2007: No Doubt
2005 & 2006: No entries
2004: Not That Person
2003: No entry