2022: Done!

 

Just resting after a trying year. Photo by John Denniston.

Apparently, I’m not the only one happy to see the end of 2022.

According to an early-December Leger poll, 31 percent of respondents thought 2022 was even worse than plague-fraught 2021; only 21 percent said it was better. The main reasons: inflation, soaring costs of living and the war in Ukraine.

Those aren’t quite my reasons, but count me among the Canadians happy to rip the 2022 calendar off my wall.

There were bright spots – a siblings’ get-together in the spring, the production of three community newsletters, several perfect summer weeks on Saltspring. But the downsides were many. I’m among the many Baby Boomers gaining a new understanding of why our aging parents talked so much about medical issues and dying: Now it’s our turn.

That sad reality was brought to the fore by the death of my youngest brother in June, just months before his 67^th birthday. The five “little” Volkart kids are now four senior citizens.

Add the continuing COVID crisis, which cuts down on activities and family connections; crazy weather that sounds the alarm on climate change, and a fall civic election that drew only one-third of voters to the ballot box despite the many crucial issues at stake. 

The Leger poll found  a hint of optimism among its respondents: 34 percent believe 2023 will be better than 2022, while only 22 percent think it will be worse.

My only prediction for the year ahead is that I will probably spend more time with my feet up.

One of the good times from 2022: My sister Betty from Quebec, me from Vancouver and my brother Brian from Alberta together in Victoria. Photo by John Denniston.

My younger brother Larry, who died this year, would have been about 16 when John photographed him on the family farm in Alberta.

Another photo of Larry, loading grain on the farm, in 1971. Photo by John Denniston.

Betty, Larry, Diane, me and Brian in 1995; the five siblings are now down to four. Photo by John Denniston. 

A little Christmas cheer to end this post on a happier note: John and me with our Christmas tree, made out of a garden obelisk wrapped in Christmas lights. Hopefully, it will be supporting sweet peas this  summer -- something to look forward to in 2023!