Yesterday was New Year's Day according to the lunar calendar used in China and many other Asian countries. Happy Year of the Dog, folks!
I'm in a good mood today. Part of it is held over from a good weekend: relaxed, yet I got some stuff done. Part of it is that my boss is out of the office today, and I think I have my work under control. Part of it is the amazing weather. It's sunny out, and Yahoo! Weather says it's 62F -- more like April than January. I'm back from a walk around the pond in the park across the street. The two swans were standing on the shore grooming themselves, and I was once again impressed by their size. Some days ago, one of them let me stand eight feet away and watch it for a couple minutes as it groomed itself. When I moved up here I thought geese were big, but swans are as big as at least two geese. If you consider volume instead of mass, I think I may only be as big as three geese, myself.
Saturday was almost as warm as today. Chris and I went to the park for running/skating, and I fell for only the second time since discovering that park. While trying to pass a couple walking their dog, I lost my balance and skinned my elbow. The dog was frightened. It was a tiny white poodle wearing a Gap doggy sweatshirt. At least it didn't have the shaved haircut poodles wear in cartoons.
February begins this week. A new week, a new month, a new year. I think I shall make a resolution: floss daily and take my multivitamin. I've fallen out of the habit of both. More ambitious resolutions may yet come.
:)Oh, and an aquarium update: on Friday evening, I acquired two
Otocinclus catfish and three japonica shrimp (I think they are
these) to be my clean-up crew. Last time I changed the water, I deliberately did not disturb the ugly coating of brown algae that has developed on my plastic plants, fake rock, and sides of the tank. In the two days that I've had them, the Otos have eaten nearly all the algae off the rock and the glass, and I think some is gone from the plants, too. I'm pleased with how that worked out. The shrimp have been hiding; I haven't observed them eating, or doing anything else, really.