Publisher column: Looking ahead to 2022

The calendar says that winter doesn’t start until Dec. 21, but I look at it a bit differently. For me, winter starts around Thanksgiving and is broken into two parts.

There’s the pre-Christmas part, where the spirit of the season helps to warm our hearts and lift our spirits, and then there’s January and February where it’s just colder and darker than we’d like it to be.

We’re in that second part now, where we have to sort of make our own joy. The fact that, just by sheer balance of probability, 2022 would almost have to be better than last year is a good start for me. I don’t like to say that things can’t get any worse, but we found the bottom of a lot of barrels in 2021.

Dealing with COVID was sad, tragic and frustrating in varying degrees. At best, our lives were disrupted through canceled events or vacations. At worst, we dealt with health issues or said goodbye to family members. And while it’s not quite invisible in the rear-view mirror just yet, we’re driving away from it. At least I hope so. And because of that, I’m excited about what 2022 might bring. Maybe we’ll see things like “normal” proms and graduations, baseball games and summer cookouts.

Maybe we’ll be able to find building supplies, or actually buy a PS5 if we want one. And maybe, just maybe, I can stop carrying a mask around with me. It might be January, and it might still be winter. But something hangs in the air around me that I haven’t felt for a while.

It’s optimism. An idea that 2022 might not just be better than 2021, but could actually be a good year. I want that for each and every one of you as well.

Happy New Year everyone!