I’m not 100% sure that the month just finished was really the first month of 2021 — did 2020 maybe have 13 months instead of 12? Maybe the new year really started on January 20?

Maybe it did, but reckoning lunar months and solar months at the same time is confusing enough so I’ll go with the flow and start 2021 on January 1.

It wasn’t a spectacular month, true. The total was 18, when I generally expect to find almost half the states in January. However, we’re still not out on the road as much as usual — and my second sighting of the year was IOWA facrissake! The last time such an unusual state showed up in the #2 spot was 2014 (I looked it up), when I spotted LOUISIANA while on my usual morning walk.

Strange but true, I spotted Louisiana yesterday, February 2, at the trailhead for the field at Misty Meadows that’s also part of my usual morning rounds. What it was doing there I have no idea.