Hail, hail the new year, I guess.

Leif Erikson, upon discovery of the Regency Condominims.

Farewell to the old year, and best wishes for the new one. I'm old enough to view the passage of time as a frightening prospect, but I must say I won't miss the holidays. Their greatest gift is to make you appreciate your routine.

We had the kids here, staying in a nearby Airbnb, a perfect combination of proximity and distance. We love each other, of course, but living on top of each other is too much, which I'm sure they would affirm.

Ms. V is up in Appleton at yet another funeral, her parents longtime neighbor and best friend. I attended another a few days ago, a resident at my mom's place, John, who we got to know through his slow, fraught peregrinations of the halls. He was a nice man, a graduate of Ripon and the Parsons School, a former New York designer who worked for Mary Tyler Moore, among others. I never did understand the fascination of the elderly for the obituaries, but now I'm studying them, too.

I am planning a bike ride from coast to coast, to begin at the end of May. I've started lifting weights, trying to resurrect my upper body, and biking indoor at the gym.  It would be about 3 months, 3000 miles. Hopefully this will work -- hopefully I can do it. I'm exploring making it a fundraiser for Muscular Dystrophy -- details to come. My old friend Bruce says he'll do the first few weeks with me. I'm looking forward to it!