goodbye to january 2011

in just a few minutes, it will be no longer be january 2011. i cannot say that i am sorry to say goodbye, for a long, hard month january 2011 has been. as i write this, it is sleeting hard outside. shards of ice hitting the glass of the windows sharply. i am thankful to be safe and warm inside from temperatures that may set new records.
i am thankful, too, that there are, among the harshness, some goodness and joy. those are what i will recall here and endeavor to remember...