Nominally, year in review, end of year type stories or commentaries, convene near the end of the year, but rarely once the year is over. I intend to stop such travesties right this instant. And like any invocation or resolution or promise or whohah thrown out there when giddy from the weirdly comforting idea that an artificial date will make all the difference in moving from a dumpster fire to sunshine and lollipops, I expect to keep this front and center…
…Till I don’t care or forget. So onto it.
To say 2020 was a remarkable year is to be a little too precious with the prose; not that it wasn’t remarkable, but most associate that word with good rather than terrible and crumby. (And that assumes it didn’t trash your life, business, or health.) But the year has come to a close and here I wish to make a few cogent comments about important stuff.*
It was good to see that after a rousing election cycle, we all came together to pat the other guy on the back, hold hands, and dance round the fire. Metaphorically speaking, of course, as we all made a real effort to mask and distance so we could return our lives to some semblance of order as we rode out the pandemic. Hey, if the Chinese can do it, so can we. And thank God we were able to put country over party and petty grievances. It’s what makes us great.
Certainly we can look no further than our own Don Trump, who after a stinging defeat, showed the way forward by pulling up his britches, letting bygones be bygones, and leading the effort to get those vaccines out to the American people post haste, thereby ensuring that America would be back to business in no time flat. That kind of leadership can only bode well should he entertain the notion of running again in 2024.
Also, we got an unexpected opportunity to spend inordinate amounts of time with our life partners and family–assuming they lived with us, otherwise it was all through phones and other timely electronic devices we can’t seem to get enough of. And oh, those quiet moments when you look across the living room to see your wife staring at you till the discomfort becomes risible. (Honest, I was sure that milk was ok before I put it in your coffee.) Fortunately, the closet was big enough to hide me. But let’s not dwell on possibly unpleasant moments, for a new year is often ripe with opportunity for giddy mayhem. Think of all the impulse shopping waiting for you out there on the wide wide web, and all the rationalizing that will follow along with the flop sweat and the intense anxiety as you try to explain what the hell you were thinking.
And think of all the time spent away from all those coworkers who you now inexplicably miss and how you’re wondering if you’re making the most of it, because you know sooner or later, dudes…
Finally, take a moment to step outside and breathe in the glory that is Mother Nature and remember that the bitterly cold rain and snow smacking you in the face will one day turn to stifling heat and humidity… and bugs.
It’s also possible we may get to herd immunity sometime next summer.
A man can dream.
Happy New Year.
*I leave it up to the reader to decide how much of this is farcical or flat out nuts.
©2021 David William Pearce
David William Pearce, Writer 