If you thought that yesterday’s flower post was out of place, this one is even more so. I first started working on this post in December of last year. It has been sitting in my drafts folder all year. I could have finished it up today and then backdated it, but I thought it might be more interesting to post it now so that it can serve as a comparison to 2021.
2020 was an anomaly in many ways, most of them bad. We were socially and physically distanced from the rest of the world, but hyperaware of what was happening outside of our bubble. It was an angry year. A swearing year. But, there were some bright spots, little good things, at least on a personal level. I wrote a blog post for nearly every day. That’s a very small thing, but a good thing for me. Consequently I have quite a few posts to choose from for this Year in Review.
January: In January, I hadn’t yet started posting every day, so my choices are somewhat limited. I’m tempted to pick the post about Great Wolf Lodge, because we were there just after the Coronavirus had been identified in the U.S. It was one of the last trips we took out of the house as a family, and later it took on a special significance to me as a symbol of our old way of life. However, I’ve selected a post about my finances instead, because I started 2020 feeling poor, but by the end of the year my metrics for measuring wealth had changed.
Yesterday I had my annual work review. . . .
The Plaint of the Middle Class
February: One of the surprising things about February’s posts is that I never mentioned the Coronavirus. We knew it was in the country, and we knew it would spread. Perhaps that’s why the posts seem so gloomy. And perhaps had I known how bad things would get I would have held more gloom in reserve. But, we didn’t need more gloom then, and we don’t need it now, so I’ve chosen a creative post instead. It might not be a good haiku, but it’s good advice.
Glenn said, “Write something
each day, even if only
a lonely haiku.”
A Coworker’s Advice
March: March was the month when reality got really scary. Our worst fears seemed to be coming true as first the schools closed and then the states started locking down. When the schools closed, we went into our own personal lockdown, and I started writing a post for every day. It was such a maddening time, because I could already see how badly things were being botched. I knew it would only get worse. That is why I chose the following post to symbolize the month.
I learned late last night that Connecticut’s governor has ordered all non-essential businesses to shut down as of Monday night at 8:00 p.m. . . . To those people saying that this is not a time to lay blame, you’re wrong! The administration’s incompetence needs to be addressed. They have botched nearly every aspect of the crisis so far, which suggests that they will continue to screw it up, and the cost will be in lives. They should all be removed and replaced with people who can actually do the job. It astounds me every single day that Donald Trump is still president. He should have been removed months, even years, ago because he is so clearly, so frighteningly, and so heartbreakingly unfit for the position. . . .
Day 8: Lockdown
April: It’s one thing to be in a bad situation because of chance or because of your own personal mistakes, and quite another to be subjected to it because of someone else’s ineptitude and/or indifference. April’s posts are full of anger over the way the pandemic was being handled, among other things. Choosing between one angry post and another is difficult, so I’ve chosen this one paragraph about hope to stand for the month, because that hope has not changed.
. . . When this crisis is over, I hope I will remember the good things, like how my husband took such good care of us, how well the kids adapted, how everyone I work with rose to the unusual demands, and how the world united to protect the good things in life. I hope I will remember free symphony broadcasts, online trivia night from my local bookstore, talking to my mom and my MIL more often, huge outpouring of donations to save favorite bookstores, society’s fierce (and long overdue) appreciation for the underpaid workers who keep everything running, the creative and entertaining video content, the Twitter support, and just a general feeling of good will. . . .
Day 30: Hope for the Future
May: The country erupted in May. I’ve chosen the following post because it encapsulates what was happening in the country. Even though I was geographically and socially isolated from most of it, I felt the anger. I still do. And so should we all.
We’re in the middle of a pandemic and people in major cities across the country are out protesting the death of George Floyd. This is America today, sick and broken. As long as Trump is president, it will continue that way. This is what he has brought us to.
Day 77: Unrest
June: At some point during the year I adopted what I called my “Daily Minimum,” and it became very important to me. I mentioned it, and elements of it, such as walking, often during this month and beyond. But the post that I’ve chosen to encapsulate this month was about masks, because nationally masks had become a political issue, which boggled my mind. When it became apparent that masks could cut down on the spread of the virus, to me this seemed like a miracle. Why would anyone reject a miracle? But they did. They really did, and they’re still doing it, and it still boggles my mind.
Over 45,000 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in America today. Coronavirus is ripping through the population. Our death toll is about to explode again. . . .
Day 105: Wear a Mask
July: There was a lot going on in July. I had my 25th work anniversary. My husband gave Marshall a much needed haircut. Locally, there was a big debate over whether to open schools. But the post I have chosen to represent July is one about books, because I developed a desperate need for books in 2020 and couldn’t seem to stop buying them.
My husband, who is concerned about my book-buying habit, attempted a sort of intervention. He told Livia to tell me to stop buying books. And it worked to the extent that she did pass along the message. But then she also told me that she wants a bigger library of her own and asked me to buy more books for her.
Day 118: We Love Books
August: In August, we had run out of bread flour and struggled to find a new source for it, because so many people had taken up baking as a pandemic hobby. Bathroom cleaner also became nearly impossible to find. On the bright side, sunset walks became a daily event, and the school issue was finally resolved, with an option given (thank goodness!) for teacher-managed distance learning. But I’ve chosen a post about Tropical Storm Isaias to represent the month, because it’s symbolic of the year: another destructive storm weathered and an unexpected bright side.
Isaias turned out to be a strange storm. Mostly it hit us with wind, but for a little while we had slashing rain interspersed with periods of sunlight, creating an on-again, off-again rainbow.
Day 145: Rainbows and Oaks
September: September was a month of rage and heat. Ruth Bader Ginsburg died and Mitch McConnell pledged to fill her seat immediately. It was not unexpected, but it was infuriating. Thinking about it now, lack is really what the month was about. Lack of control. Lack of reason. Lack of decency. Lack of justice. But the lack of water was palpable, which is why I’ve chosen a post about drought to represent the month.
Since I first wrote about our drought situation in early September, we’ve had next to no rain. Our level of drought has consequently been moved up to “extreme” at the official drought-monitoring website. We are now in worse condition, drought-wise, than most of California is. . . .
Day 196: Extreme Drought
October: For October, the highlight is always Halloween. That’s part of the reason I chose a post about Halloween to represent the month, but I like the post because it’s also about us trying to make the best of a bad situation, and succeeding.
We went into Halloween without much of a plan, but we had everything we needed: Halloween gear, plenty of treats, our imaginations, and a willingness to be silly. . . .
Day 233: Halloween Accomplished
November: November was a big month. The election, of course, was a big deal. I also felt my first earthquake in November. But it was a comeuppance that really shook me up. It upset me so much that I still occasionally give the middle finger to certain people. They can’t see it, but I hope they feel it. I thank them for the lesson, though. I needed it.
I believe that sometimes the events of our lives carry messages with them and that it’s important to listen to those messages. . . .
Day 245: HUA
December: It’s December as I’m writing this post, so I have no emotional distance from any of it. I’m not sure what to pick. We had to cancel our Christmas plans, which sucked. I was tempted by the post about my wish to not flood at Christmas, because we came very close to flooding that day, and I am so grateful that we did not. But I want to end on a lighter note, so instead I’ve chosen this post about “Parent Logic,” because it’s been an ongoing topic of conversation and a sort of inside joke for a while now. Plus, I like the post because it came out of spending time together with the kids, which in turn came out of the Advent Calendar, which is an important part of our annual Christmas celebration.
Tonight the kids and I had another Christmas craft night. While we crafted, the kids explained “Parent Logic” to me. . . .
Day 281: Parent Logic
And that’s all I have to say about 2020. I’m ready to bid it farewell. May 2021 be a better year.