Libations: Handrail and holding on in the New Year

New Year's is my favorite holiday. I like the idea of starting with a blank page, and I like the optimism of new beginnings. My tradition is to eat black-eyed peas for luck and prosperity, and to choose a theme for the coming year, as well as review the previous year's activity and theme. I use a Hobonichi Techo, and can spend hours setting up and writing lists and updating calendars. I use the Techo as a daily planner, but it also holds my habit tracker and long term planner. Last year my theme was Travel, but with the coronavirus pandemic, that really didn't work out well. We did travel for three months from March through May, but nothing after we returned home. This year I chose Creativity for my theme. I want to draw something every day (I'm terrible, but I enjoy it), and finally buckle down and learn to play my hammered dulcimer. I expect to write more, too, both in my Journal and on the blog. I'm not off to a great start with the blog, unfortunately. Every year, I try a bunch of things, and some of them stick and become routine in my life. One of those items was to learn to make yogurt at home to reduce plastic waste. You can see the glass milk bottles behind me as I heat the milk. We found that the homemade version is better than what we can buy. I make one gallon at a time; it usually lasts for three weeks before I need to make more.

Black-eyed peas with rice and fake chicken nuggets.

Making yogurt with cosmopolitan as helper.

Our retaining wall now has the required handrail to prevent falls. It's nice to have this project all the way finished.

Iron detail. It matches other railings on our property.

Russ shows the scale of the wall and rail.

We continue to get out for walks. My favorite in January was our outing to Chinese Reconciliation Park in Tacoma. The pagoda was painted in the traditional way, with red lacquer. Several artisans visited from China to help our local tradespeople apply it properly. The day we went was very windy and the tide was high, blowing water and foam up onto the path. It felt wild and beautiful. We also drove to Enumclaw and tried out the Foothills Trail. There are so many great hikes and trails around here, I'm sure we will never manage to try them all! Closest to home was the East Slope Trail at Chambers Bay. We walk here often, but have never done this trail. I also walked the labyrinth in the main park before we started. It was a frosty day and the trail was slippery when it was in the shade, but I managed to stay on my feet.