The stream that runs through the backyard keeps eroding a deeper and deeper channel, exposing roots to the elements that are coated in ice during this cold snap.

Sure, 11 degrees doesn’t seem cold if you’re from up north, but that’s a record for today here in Athens.

Bracing, as we used to say.

Another year starts, where it heads is a little fuzzy but there are some bright spots out there.

To celebrate the end of a very long year, the Mrs. and I headed out to watch the Lady Dogs play their conference opener. Women’s basketball draws a much smaller crowd, but the security staffing seemed pretty high.

Duncan, due to his hypoglycemia, gets to eat five times a day – every four hours, like clockwork, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Licorice, a perfectly healthy (if somewhat itchy, of late) dog, only eats twice a day. She is still occasionally curious about favoritism.

The Mrs. and I did a run to Birmingham to have lunch with some cousins. The city is visually loaded, a classic industrial city where much of its character has survived.

Also stopped at the Alabama Dish Outlet (twice) to look at more Fiesta Ware pieces. While we appreciate Fiesta Ware, I’m hopeful we will not be assimilated into its cult.

If you tip over your pressure washer, it’s not going to work, folks.

Iron grates to keep people off and out, I suppose.