2021 Was a Little Less Awful Than 2020

With about 15 minutes or so left in 2021, let me offer a few words of reflection of the past 12 months.

At this time last year, I had expressed hope that if two thirds of the U.S. population had been vaccinated and if community spread of COVID been reduced that we would be in a good spot and that President Biden would have bought some goodwill. In the late spring and early summer, it appeared we might get there. But vaccine resistance has left us with only 63% of the population fully vaccinated and the Omicron variant has caused more community spread than ever even if it ultimately results in fewer hospitalizations and deaths. At this time a year ago, we were nearing 350,000 deaths. We have now surpassed 825,000 deaths. Some time in 2022 we will reach a million deaths. This is not something to which I look forward. 

2021 also saw a concerted attempt by former President Trump and his allies to thwart the peaceful transition of power. Instead of compelling Republicans to abandon Trump, they are closer to him than ever notwithstanding the fact he described the 2020 election as the insurrection and January 6, 2021 as the protest. Indeed, two thirds of Republicans do not believe Biden was legitimately elected President despite the fact Trump's claims of election fraud are made from whole cloth. 

Despite Biden successfully getting a stimulus bill passed and the infrastructure bill passed, his numbers have been diminishing due to not being able to get Build Back Better legislation passed, the messy withdrawal from Afghanistan (which Trump started), rising inflation and COVID not disappearing. Of course, COVID cannot disappear so long as people refuse to get vaccinated. Despite Biden's challenges, I am glad he is in the White House rather than Trump because everything that were experiencing now would be amplified a thousand-fold perhaps more. 2021 was a little less awful than 2020 for this reason alone. 

As for me, for the third time in four years I lived in two different cities in two different states. I began the year in Atlanta and stayed around long enough to vote for Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock handing Democrats a majority in the Senate albeit a slim and fragile one. But things did not turn out as I hoped they would in Atlanta and on Memorial Day Weekend I returned to the Boston area to start a new job. My second stint in The Hub as well as my employment has now outlasted my stint in Atlanta. It is my hope that I do not have to move out of Massachusetts for a long time, if ever. 

Granted, I am not making as much money here as I did in Atlanta and thus cannot afford my own place. I share a house in Cambridge with a retired academic whereas in Atlanta I had an apartment above a garage which was separate from my landlady and landlord's residence. My landlady frequently has company over which renders me unable to use the kitchen. There are restaurants just down the street which I have been using but this can be an expensive proposition. On the other hand, there is a grocery store just steps away from here and it doesn't cost me anything to do the laundry. The only utilities for which I pay is air conditioning in the summer. So the place isn't without its virtues. 

Nevertheless, I am back in familiar terrain and it is much easier to get around. Amenities are closer together and so are the roads. Somehow I don't think I could have tolerated an Atlanta summer even with central air conditioning. While I might have enjoyed another World Series parade, I shudder to think how I would have coped with the murder of a woman and her dog in Piedmont Park two blocks from where I lived had I still been in Atlanta. 

My existing social network has not congealed in the way I would have hoped. I understand that COVID is a factor to some degree. Of course, people lead busy lives. But COVID or no COVID, when I am with people I often feel like I am in the way and am taking up their time and space as if I were a nuisance. I don't enjoy feeling this way. It does help that I don't mind being alone and don't feel the need to talk all the time. Nevertheless, like all people, I am a social creature and yet don't feel like I'm part of the human race. One might ask, well, why not create a new social network? As I get older, I find it harder to harder to meet people much less people who are amenable to engaging in any kind of meaningful conversation or interaction. 

Under the circumstances, I know I will need to make adjustments despite being back on familiar terrain. Getting back into swimming on a regular basis might help me physically and spiritually although I know I must exercise caution in doing so. I do not want to be infected with COVID even though I know that with Omicron my chances of getting it have increased exponentially. I can only knock on wood or whatever solid substance is available to me that I remain healthy.

I don't wish to leave the impression there haven't been some good moments in 2021. My affection for the band Fanny grew exponentially. This was especially so when I met June Millington and her longtime partner Ann Hackler at the New England premier of Fanny: The Right to Rock back in October and getting to hear June perform. I subsequently renewed acquaintances with June the following month in New York when she, Brie Howard-Darling and Patti Quatro had a partial Fanny reunion after a screening of Fanny: The Right to Rock. I hope there will be more Fannytastic adventures to come in 2022.