Meandering on the Way — January 20-30, 2024

Saturday, January 20th

We were happy to see that our house and grounds had remained undamaged after the onslaught of ice. There was only one casualty.

Sunday, January 21st

Despite a few patches of ice and a bit of rain, we took a walk in the forest today. It was kind of a long walk. Too long, in fact. What were we thinking? But we made it up to highest shoulder of Mt. Peavy. Back when we lived part way up the hill, we used to scamper to the very top before breakfast. But the effort was worth it today as it was a lovely scene and not too cold.

Monday, January 22nd

Lots more rain today. We took another walk, but a short one, just once around the boardwalk at the Jackson-Frazier wetland.

Tuesday, January 23rd

E called Alaska Airlines today to see if we could get a refund for our cancelled flight from San Diego to Eugene. Altogether, she spent more than two hours on hold, finally getting someone to talk to just at dinnertime. Happily enough, it took only about seven minutes for the representative to agree that a refund was due and to set it in motion. Hoo-definitely-ray! And kudos to Alaska for stepping up.

Thursday, January 25th

Tertulia with R and J this morning. J maintains a rain gauge and reports that she’s been seeing daily totals of a half inch or more for several days now. She notes that a good portion of it comes during the night.

Sunday, January 28th

Well! Finally we had a mostly rainless day. We took a good walk in the forest around noontime, and it didn’t rain on us at all. What a concept.

Monday, January 29th

Today is the 43rd anniversary of the opening of a Gustav Klimt exhibition at the Isetan Museum of Art in Tokyo. The exhibition ran from January 29 to February 24, 1981 and sometime in that period M managed to attend, purchasing a copy of the exhibition poster as a souvenir. The poster painting, Lady with a Fan, was one of Klimt’s last works. It was still mounted on his easel, they say, when he died in 1918. M’s poster is sadly faded and in fact hardly resembles the original that he saw forty-three years ago. (M can’t really complain; his own appearance also differs from what it was forty-three years ago.)

Last June, Lady with a Fan sold at Sotheby’s in London for $108,400,000. Here’s an unfaded image of the painting.

Tuesday, January 30th

E was busy today, with a medical appointment and a Better Bones class in the morning and then a puzzle exchange meeting and a dog walk assignment in the afternoon. She’s also been busy trying to get some estimates for installing solar panels on our roof. What a process that is! She also found a crocus or two next to the driveway.

M has been dealing with water drainage issues in the garage, writing, and making pickles.