- Exploring the area around our hotel on foot.
- Visiting the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix
- The bamboo and rattan
tubasousaphone from the Philippines at the MIM
- Playing a giant gong
- Playing a theremin
- “Amid a massive landfill in Paraguay, children find hope by making music on instruments built from recycled trash.”
- Learning that many different cultures have invented some form of bagpipes
- Getting return address labels printed quickly after we realized we had forgotten to bring ours
- My wife putting all of the return address label stickers on our cards
- Warm and sunny weather for our last full day in Arizona
- Despite delays, we made it safely home
- I was able to shovel enough snow to make a path on the sidewalk and clear our driveway.
- I learned how to use our metal “garden” shovels to remove compacted snow and ice.
- New jeans
- Giving a ride to someone in need.
- Taking a box of donations to a thrift store
- New bathroom cleaning supplies
- Ordering the cake for my birthday party
- New Year’s Eve dinner with new friends
- Candy, giant chocolate bars, and other treats from Trader Joe’s
- My bicycle, which I had ridden for more than ten years, finally accumulated enough wear that it was time for a new one. I am grateful for my new Kona Dew, purchased on Jan. 3 from Acme Bicycles.
- I was able to have several components (seat, snow tires, bell, bar mitts, etc.) transferred from my old bike to my new one.
- Riding my new bicycle home from the bike shop
- My wife’s sense of humor. She suggested I write, “My bike is haunted! At first I thought it was normal, but then the ghost woke me up in the middle of the night and told me that I absolutely must install a water bottle holder”
What I Have Read in 2017
Books I am Reading
To Read Next
Dr. Stephen Sekula- Bob on Books
- Jackie Lea Sommers
- Altered Faces
- Politifact
Networked Blogs
