January 2025: Unexpected Endings

Ah, what can I say about the month of January?

It began in an ordinary manner, and then took an unexpected turn that occupied most of my time for weeks.

I started out the New Year with a list of goals–some simple, others quite lofty–perhaps unattainable, but worth shooting for nonetheless.

Here’s a copy of most of them to give you an idea:

List of 25 Goals for 2025

I was hopeful for the new-growth opportunities that appeared to be ahead and stretching myself to do things that would require a certain amount of discomfort to achieve.

Meanwhile, there were some rumblings of discontent at Peterson Academy, but I assumed they would eventually be addressed and we’d move on from that. (In fact, I was looking forward to moving on because it was getting in the way of the creative discussion I was used to and preferred.)

But storms were brewing, both literally and figuratively.

On the literal side, we had the big snowstorm that blew up over much of the Midwest the first week of January. I had to cut a family visit short and drive to Pennsylvania early to avoid getting snowed in and being late to my next place of lodging.

(Many thanks to my friends who were spontaneous and put me up for a few days during that interim!)

On the figurative side, January 8th brought a storm I hadn’t anticipated:

It was a cold afternoon in Pittsburgh, PA, when I was very suddenly expelled from Peterson Academy (where I had been spending most of my free time over the previous five months, exploring fun ideas and concepts with like-minded people who were quickly becoming friends).

I was not the only one banned (a longer recap of the ordeal can be found here), and I was suddenly off on an adventure trying to find and regroup with as many of my Academy friends as possible, and also figure out what had just happened.

I spent the next two and a half weeks sorting through all of this.

(Many thanks to the friends who gave me two giant steaks right before that week to make this possible! The photo above is one of the round steaks with a stovetop for scale. Have you ever seen a steak this big? I had not. Hence the picture. 👀)

This was all taking place while I was enjoying a few weeks of urban life in Pittsburgh.

The food pantries are ones I’ve seen before, but I thought the scarves were particularly kind for anyone who was stuck out in the very cold (it was around -5°F / -20.5°C one week).

I wonder if this is a common thing for urban areas or if the people of this particular place were unusually kind.

(If anyone knows the answer to this or about any similar things you’ve seen in different areas, please reach out and let me know!)

At the end of the month, I visited some friends who blessed me with good fellowship and fresh venison steak (thank you!).

And then I wrapped things up with a trip to visit a friend in Virginia for a few days. We caught up, laughed, watched Josh Sneed’s comedy special, and ate a ton of good food. (Who knew goat cheese could be good on pizza? I, for one, did not!)

Stuff I Learned

I’m having a blast trying out new things on the road–some fun, others challenging. Here are some of my favorites:

• Parallel parking on a narrow street (so narrow you had to fold your mirrors in and back off the street to get out) is something you can get used to and not so scary after all.
• Iron Born Pizza is really as good as the hype (I recommend the Cubano Pie).
• If a candy store has a grab bag with random stuff in it for $5, just spend the $5 on what you actually want because it is a ploy to get rid of their less-desirable merchandise rather than to give you mystery chocolate.

• Pupusas are food of the gods. If you’re not familiar with what a pupusa is, it’s kind of like a corn taco shell that is stuffed with cheese, beans, and/or carnitas. You eat them topped with coleslaw and a thin red hot sauce of sorts.

Photo of the Month

Sometimes I like to take pictures of little things that I find while out on walks.

These are kind of random, so I am planning to dedicate this space to whichever I find worth sharing.

This one is half of a “Best Friends” necklace that caught my eye as I was walking past, and I wonder if it was lost or discarded:

January Stats

Animals Pet

Dogs – 4 / Cats – 3

Books Finished

None

Library Cards Collected

1.5

963

Miles Walked

21.08

Song of the Month