Well, here we are, the last SYW post of the year. For most of 2021 I felt that life was almost normal for me. I enjoyed my one day a week in Wynyard volunteering at the Visitor Centre even though we didn’t have many visitors. If we had the money we could go out for a meal or to a market occasionally. I got used to checking in and doing the hand sanitiser thing. I got vaccinated. Everything was fine. Then the borders opened up and almost simultaneously Omicron showed up. People from other states where there was Covid came to our state. Now we have Covid in Tasmania and can’t go anywhere without a mask. Frankly I preferred lockdown.
2022 Is bearing down on the world. In my opinion 2021 was 100% better than 2020, but it hasn’t been without its own set of problems and fresh worries. I’m hopeful that 2022 will somehow see a return to ‘life before Covid’, but I also realize that’s a foolish hope.
At 12 a.m. on December 31st/Jan 1st, what will you be doing? (use your own time zone please)
We always sit up even though we don’t party it doesn’t seem right not to see the old year out. We’ll probably be listening to music. I may go out on the balcony and look at the stars. Last year some locals had fireworks display that we could see from our house.
Is there a tradition you have for New Year’s Eve?
Not really, just staying up till after midnight.
Do you have any hope or reason you find that next year will be better?
I’m usually an optimist but honestly no I don’t have any reason to think next year will be better for the world. It may be a bit less financially stressful for us personally. I’m not optimistic about life returning to normal any time soon. I hope it does but I don’t have much to base that hope on as even though I try to avoid most news programs what I do hear is uniformly bad.
What’s the biggest personal lesson you learned during 2021?
How much I value my independence. I miss the times when I could decide to go out and just go.
GRATITUDE SECTION
Describe in 1-3 words how you feel going into 2022
Cautious.
Our Other Blog: Two Sisters and Two Points of View 
Thanks Vanda for Sharing Your World. Cautious seems a very sensible way to be. I agree with the no news is good news attitude too, I haven’t voluntarily watched any since this all began (and even before) because the doom and gloom is so wide spread. I’m sorry Covid has hit your country! I hope the New Year brings you and your sister joy! Happy New Year and have a wonderful week!
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Covid has been in all the other states but Tasmania was only allowing limited arrivals from NSW and Victoria until recently because those states were the worst. Now anyone can come here so of course they brought it with them.
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I’m so sorry you aren’t really optimistic going into 2022. I understand with Omicron and all. It’s sad.
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I am usually an optimistic person but it’s hard to be when case numbers are rising like never before.
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So true indeed. I am trying to believe the people who say that Omicron causes less serious illness than Delta, but still, it’s so hard.
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I have given up looking “forward” to something better. We are trying to just get by and deal with now as best we can. Will 2022 be better? Probably not. Prices are climbing, but not our income and there is still so much that needs doing — and so little money with which to do it. Meanwhile, I am hoping for a few days of sun amidst the endless grey, rainy weather. At least we can be sure our well isn’t going to run dry this year!
Hugs from both of us!
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I know how you feel. We just got our gutters cleaned. They were so badly blocked that none of the rain we got last winter went into the tanks. I had to buy water. At least that won’t happen again.
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