I feel as if I should be marking the end of 2022 here somehow, but I am not sure exactly how. For many people it has been a year best forgotten quickly.

The COVID -19 pandemic seems to drag on, though at least the panic part seems to have died down as we have come to accept the virus as endemic. The effectiveness of multiple vaccinations seemed to be questioned by some, with the big shift I’ve noticed being that people no longer ask about vaccination status. I know people who have proudly announced their third booster (fifth shot) on social media, but most people I know don’t make a deal of such things, or condemn those with fewer shots – which seems to me to be a change from 2021. I think the Omicron variant convinced people that it wasn’t worth the fuss.

I have gotten tired of writing about COVID -19, and you are probably just as tired of reading about it. Still, I expect it to be an ongoing subject discussed here as the months unfold.

I don’t think governments have learned anything from the pandemic, except perhaps that a large portion of the population is easily manipulated. That’s something advertisers knew already; I guess politicians are slow on the uptake.

Politically, Canada in 2022 was dominated by the Freedom Convoy, which made worldwide news. It was a polarizing event on a scale we usually see in the United States, not in sleepy Canada.

It still divides people, and when the Rouleau commission report n the imposition of the Emergencies Act is issued in February, and the 2023 version of the convoy descends on Winnipeg, the discussions will heat up again. This is another topic I foresee us revisiting many times in 2023.

I’ve also become even more bored with Donald Trump, which is why I haven’t written much about American politics recently.  Maybe I should remedy that next year – there is so much happening and I get the impression most people don’t understand how it impacts their lives.

I also, for the most part, stayed away from the war in Ukraine, and other global conflicts. Once again, I’m not sure if I can add much insight into a pretty clear cut situation. Or perhaps most people don’t understand the conflict and need some analysis. What do you think? I d have a couple of posts on the topic that I never published, so maybe early in the New Year we’ll go there.

My problem as a blogger has been that I have too many interests. One of the cardinal rules of blogging is to stick to a niche. All the experts agree that is the best way to increase readership. I agree, but the only way I am going to do that is if you pay me to specialize in some topic. My interests are too varied to voluntarily limit myself, and I am to lazy to have multiple blogs. So you can expect me to jump from topic to topic, and theme to theme.

For Ottawa sports fans 2022 was tinged with disappointment. Our two biggest pro teams, hockey’s Senators and football’s Redblacks failed to make the playoffs. Mind you, the baseball Titans and soccer Atletico did well, each falling just short of a championship. This has me wondering if I should switch my sports emphasis for 2023 away from hockey and Canadian football, though I am still predicting a Stanley Cup win for the Senators this spring. I also expected Canada to win the World Cup this fall, so take that prediction for what it is worth.

The change of date from one calendar year to another is somewhat artificial. A few centuries ago someone decided this was how we would record the passage of time, and we’ve gotten into the habit of getting excited at the potential of a new year.

Really though, every day is a new beginning. Maybe that’s the attitude we should take into 2023 when it starts in a couple of days.