The first month of 2024 is over. To be honest, it’s quite hard to rate, and my feelings about the month are as varied as the weather was.

I hoped to start my month with a hike or at least a short walk right on the 1st, but the weather had a different idea. I woke up to persistent rain and thus decided to use the day a different way. After several months, I managed to get myself to write and edit one full chapter. I edited another chapter the next day, but, for the rest of the week, my focus was on things related to the hiking club.

In the meantime, I bought a ticket for a concert of one of my favorite bands, scheduled for 21st – I was planning to do so even before the new year, but my father wanted two more days to decide whether to join me (as I’d buy the tickets for both of us in such a case) – though he decided against as he didn’t find anyone to swap shifts with.

The first club hike of the new year felt more like November than January. Gray skies and light rain greeted me – and the rest of the hiking club – into the new year. Higher in the mountains, it changed to a mix of rain and snow. This eventually abated somewhat and changed to mere fog.

The next week, the weather turned more winter-like. Even the lowlands got some snow. I was looking forward to the weekend and enjoying the snow, which ended up relatively well, and led to taking some frosty photos.

Midway through the next week, my sister and my father (in close succession) informed me that my paternal grandmother had died. Despite severe health complications in her later years, she lived for over 86 years. I decided to pay tribute to her in my writing, as I mentioned in a separate post. The idea actually came to me during the hike I went on the following Saturday, hoping to clear my mind on another snow-white winter day.

The concert on the Sunday after was a welcome (even if short-term) distraction, though I think that I’ll feel the loss more when the time comes for the actual farewell (as the burial is sorted out mostly by my aunt). Being busy at work also led me to keep my mind occupied and thus softened the loss.

The last weekend of the month had another “event” planned, a walk through the suburbs with the hiking club – and, again, in very autumn-like weather with the snow gone from the lowlands and a cloudy day (though the rain didn’t come). I’ve also met with my parents and my grandfather – a more than welcome family time. And, at the end of the month, I managed to get a bit more writing done.

As for my other pursuits, I also managed to read one book in the first half of January and started another at the end.

---

Obviously, this was a month I wouldn’t rate that well, but such is life. I hope your January was gentler to you than it was to me. And that February will be better.