The January Man

I've never been shy of declaring how much I dislike January. Easily, it's my least favorite month. The joy of Christmas has dissipated, the days are short, the sun is barely offering any benefits, and though Salt Lake City doesn't suffer from the debilitating Midwestern sub-zero temperatures, we are forced to endure inversions -- smog fests that are sabotage the air quality and mask an otherwise blue sky. I don't want any time of year to go quickly simply to be done with it, generally because I don't want these years to go by any faster than necessary. That said, I won't be that sad when February arrives (and then, eventually, March).

But something odd happened this January -- a weird winter break for the boys. Their last day of school was Dec. 23, they got two weeks off and didn't return until Jan. 9. After just one week back in school, they were off today for MLK Day. Tomorrow is Jan. 17; my least favorite month is more than halfway over without it quite feeling it ever really begun. Yes, still two more weeks, but hurray, this might not feel like a typical January. Never mind an inversion is starting to set in (it's not supposed to be bad). Never mind the days are still short, though getting longer every day. Never mind the cold temps (still not as bad as Wisconsin ...). I knocked out the first half of the month without a sweat.

The boys enjoyed their days off; both hung out with friends and didn't bug me too much while I worked. I managed a long walk with the dog tonight -- chilly, but it felt good. Looking forward to the 17th!


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