New Years 2018 - Day 1287 (Year 4, Day 192)

Williamsburg, VA

We rang in the new year last night, sort of.  Like the previous year, we just hung out and didn't even break out the Scrabble board.  We did play some music and even danced a little, and we made a nice batch of low carb vegetarian nachos (using almond flour, the way I make my crackers, and without the beans) and drank wine (no mixed drinks like in the past). Then we watched a movie - the totally wrong one for a festive day:  "Manchester by the Sea."  It was an excellent movie but an extremely depressing story (I had thought it would be a "feel good" movie, but boy was I wrong!)  The movie ended just on time to watch the ball drop (on tv, of course).  It was extremely quiet here; not even a single fire cracker (then again, it's about 10 miles to "civilization" and the campground here is officially closed except for the quiet section we're in which is for long termers -- mostly seasonal contract workers like us).  We went to bed at 12:30, got out of bed this morning at 10:00!  Taking it real slow, easy and lazy today.

We're also in the middle of an arctic freeze.  Wind chill this morning was 8 degrees!  Pretty much the whole country is feeling it, and much of the northeast is getting hit hard with a lot of snow.  We need to keep the water running in the sink so the lines don't freeze up (it did a few days ago because I accidentally shut it off and remembered 2 hours later, by which time it was all a block of ice in the hose and at the spigot.  Fortunately, it warmed up to about 36, so it melted the ice.  Water has been left on ever since).  We're also using at least 1 40# tank of propane per week as the furnace automatically kicks on at around 35 degrees (otherwise it's the electric heat pump which is part of the a/c unit).  Normally, when we're not in a winter climate, we use a 40# tank about every 6-8 months; sometimes a bit more frequently if we boondock a lot or have electrical problems and need to run the generator (which we don't that often).  I hate extreme temps, but am grateful I get to stay indoors (even though I wear a 2 long sleeve shirts and a sweatshirt with a hood, gloves, and sit in front of a space heater), while Mitch has to be outside working in the biting cold.

As I look back on 2017, the world became a very scary place.  I pray that things take a turn for the better this coming year.  For us, personally, it was a productive year work-wise and we did get to visit some interesting places.  I'm hoping that 2018 brings us a bit farther west; particularly to Arizona and/or New Mexico.  We've been at the beach, by lakes and in the mountains.  Haven't done the desert yet.