Feliz año nuevo

You’ll recall that Christmas Day 2016 was dreary as could be.

So was New Year’s Day. I’m starting to wonder if this forecast “hot and dry” summer might end up looking like 2014.

I “repaired” the incompetent window installer’s botched fix (see first link above). Turns out when he smeared everything with silicon, he covered up the drain hole. Someone else advised me to drill holes on the outside channel every 20 cm or so, and I drilled through the aluminum — but forgot to cut away the silicon on the outside. Anyway, in the yesterday’s bad storm, it (finally) didn’t leak.

The rain cleared and we had a lovely sunset at 8:30,

and a clear view of the waxing moon.

The second of January didn’t bode well. I got bitten by a dog.

Alas, it was my own dog. Accosted by an obnoxious and too-often-loose dog, Benji and Syd’s five predictably went crazy. Apparently when I pulled Benji back quickly he assumed my leg was the enemy. No harm done.

And another lovely sunset.

Yesterday brought the unusual sight of a fake soccer ball in a ditch, not far from where I once saw two real soccer balls in the ditch.

And I noticed for the first time that the townhouses are finally rented after two-plus years of construction.

Today I noticed that one started ten months ago is finally finished.

Meanwhile at the beach, the saga of the buried boardwalk seems almost over.

The exposed part is getting a little dangerous to walk on (but could be worse),

and while the dune has regained its height on the left, burying the elevated boardwalk, the path of least resistance has once again become the breach in the dune, which is now larger than ever. For a fun comparison of its early days, see this from October 2013.

And a much-traveled beach throwing stick that now — after ten or more trips up and down the beach — probably deserves to be retired.

Finally, more rain is forecast. I’m ready!

No, these are not in progress. They are finished. They are above the stairs, where no one sees them, and even though I have repeated sealed them, after water pouring down the wall inside during yesterday’s rain/wind storm I said enough! The goop I happened to have on hand is white.

They don’t even open. I intend to replace them with glass blocks eventually.