The Year in Review

2020 has been quite a year, hasn't it?

Of course there was (and remains) the pandemic.  There was racial unrest.  Lebanon blew up and a plane crashed in Iran.  There were murder hornets and Biblical swarms of locusts and killer whales attacking boaters.  Raging wildfires burned up much of Australia and the western United States.  And we haven't even touched on politics yet.  Trump was impeached, kept his office, was voted out of his office, and for some time refused to leave.  On the other side of the pond, there was Brexit, Megxit, and probably something else that ends with -xit.  

But there were good things too.  Sure, they were, for the most part, smaller and more personal stories and victories, but that is to be expected -- especially since at the behest of our public health officials we were supposed to be staying home as much as possible.  I got to spend a lot of time with S (and we still like each other!), we made some improvements to our house (and identified many more which are still in progress or not yet begun), we got to spend several weeks visiting family (which required some long drives, but that became part of the fun), we cooked a lot, and I read more than I have in a long time.  My high school reunion was cancelled (not that I would have gone anyway).

We are lucky enough to be a pretty self-contained unit -- no kids, both working from home with people who are more or less also independent, and both pretty okay with isolation.  But I did very much enjoy hearing the stories of all the people who really went above and beyond.  I especially enjoyed the stories of teachers visiting their students to make sure they were okay, delivery drivers being appreciated for the extra work load, and most of all medical professionals who kept on going to work even when they didn't know what kind of a virus they were fighting or how to best protect themselves while caring for their patients.  That last group -- they are the real heroes.

I wonder -- what lessons will we take from this year?  Will we correct racial injustices?  Will we take better care of our environment?  Will people be kinder to each other?  Will people appreciate what they have when things are good, and help others when things are hard?  Or will we move on to other things and forget all about it?

Yes, it has been quite a year.  What we will say about it in 20 years' time?