In California, the first Monday in January marks the first day of the legislative session, after a break in the fall that begins on September 1 in even-numbered years and in mid-September in odd-numbered years. It takes a while for the Legislature to get into gear, introduce bills and start committee hearings, but January is truly a "hit the ground running" month, because the governor is required to release his proposed budget for the next fiscal year on or before January 10. As I sometimes joked, the timing was designed in a way to fully eradicate all the good will built up over the holiday season as quickly as possible.
Because I retired in October, today was the first such Monday in a very long time where none of that really mattered. I'm not sure I've quite gotten the hang of "the retirement thing," but I'm getting there. Today I braved the elements (not super cold, but quite windy) for a walk, and caught this little tree in a nearby park with a few lonely Christmas ornaments still hanging. We'll see how long it takes for the holiday-minded person who put them up to retrieve them.
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