You remember me? Another trip around the big red ball. Out with 21 and in with 22!

 It’s amazing how quickly a year can go by.  But just like that here we are. And now the countdown begins again on the last day of the year. Over the years, this blog has been one of the last bits of business for the old year as we welcomed the New Year.  I’ve been doing this blog since February 2006.  In the beginning, I posted regularly as I shared my rebirth as a soldier heading to that giant sandbox in Iraq.  Things slowed down as the years went by, and then I deployed again in 2012 and wrote more often.  I’m retired now, so I guess I’m not living that exciting life I did when this all started. But over the years I’ve at least tried to post once a year, usually on New Years Eve.

Last year I was optimistic about the beginning of the new year.  We had had a rough 2020 but by the end of the year there was a glimmer of hope.  COVID-19 was raging but we had a new President who replaced  the worst President in American History.  Now I had issues with Bush (see 2006 -2007 posts) but Trump was the worst.  And with the election of Biden, I was hopeful that 2021 would be better.  And for the most part, I think it was better.  But there is great anxiety at this moment. A good portion of the United States believes that Biden is not the legitimate president of the United States and that Donald Trump was a victim of mass electoral fraud.  Many of those same people who believe this lie, also believe lies that say that the CDC and the Government is trying to poison them by forcing them to become vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus or that COVID-19 is being overhyped by liberal elites and the media.  So because of these lies,  COVID-19 is again ravaging the country at record pace, killing thousands a day.  Ignorance and stubbornness have sustained this pandemic, and I’m not hopeful about anything changing soon.  

So the eve of 2022, maybe has the feel of say 1859…the eve of the Civil War or perhaps New Years Eve, 1917, when the Spanish Flu was in the midst of its work.  Scary times dear friends.  Who knows where this will take us the next 12 months.  But I want to light a candle…not curse the darkness.  So I say, fuck you 2021 and welcome 2022.  This is our year!  

But for now, I’m grateful.  I’m healthy and I have all my creatures, and my SO, my Friends, a warm home  and a successful business.  And so personally I have little to complain about.  So I will end the year with gratitude and high hopes.  Goodbye 2021 and Hello 2022.  Until we meet again, god willing.