2022 and Our Relationship with the Unknown and Unknowable

Outside, it’s sub-zero and sunny as I start this. A New Year’s Day snowfall has left my little town looking more like it should at this time of year. The ice is frozen on the sidewalks and roads: that’s been a rare occurrence during the green Christmas just passed.

Once again, my home and area finds itself closing up, not quite locking down, in response to a spike in COVID-19 cases, through death rates are low, most of the population got their shots, and things have felt something like normal. These measures, I’m not too fond of this time around: our leadership had been tasked to develop a “stay open” plan to ensure that small businesses could weather any resurgence while still trying to protect people from infection.

They did not do this, obviously, and now we’re here, with thousands of people in hospitality, cinema, and other public-facing businesses laid off with only half of the financial support the government offered last time. The stress, anxiety, and anger is as palpable in the air as the billowing steaming of nearby chimneys.

In the greater world, outside of the pandemic, I read news of Russian troops readying to invade Ukraine, and Chinese deployments of hypersonic missiles designed to destroy U.S. carrier groups protecting Taiwan.