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December 30, 2020
The View From Dry Creek Hill
Charles Prokop
www.DryCreekHill.com
“Good riddance to 2020” is today’s TV news and talk show mantra. I’ve seen print and internet articles asking if 2020 was the worst year in human history. (Spoiler alert: Nope, no way, not even close.) Even comic strips are jumping on the bandwagon, gleefully evicting old men wearing 2020 sashes.
I admit that it’s been hard to joyfully carpe some of the diems we’ve had to deal with in 2020. There were quite a few days that I wanted to seize by the throat and squeeze until it apologized. But I’m not willing to throw away a year of life. I’m not very happy with a lot of things that happened in 2020, but I’m glad 2020 was here and I was there for the show. The alternative is worse.
I don’t enjoy the mask-on mask-off dance. I don’t like standing six feet apart from others and trying to figure out what local, state or national ordinances are in effect, and where. I mourn the lives lost to COVID, the business and financial distress many have suffered. The political season was and still is a dumpster fire. The world seems ever more full of “experts” eager to tell me what to do and what to think, just in case I wasn’t aware of my hidden foibles, biases and problems.
But I’m still here, my family, friends and our little town are still here, and daily life goes on. Our corner of the Hill Country is doing better than a lot of other places. Our local leaders are working hard to minimize governmental interference while elected leaders elsewhere grasp for power and control. Good things have happened in the midst of the storm. Many things have changed in my personal schedule, but what I’ve lost has been replaced with so many new activities that I can’t possibly do everything I want to do.
When the Roman poet Horace said “Carpe diem,” he wasn’t saying “Have a nice day.” He was saying “Seize the day.” Grab the day that you find yourself in and do your best to make something of it. It’s the only day you have. That was true for Horace in the first century BC and was just as true for us in 2020. And it will be true again in 2021.
I admit that it’s been hard to joyfully carpe some of the diems we’ve had to deal with in 2020. There were quite a few days that I wanted to seize by the throat and squeeze until it apologized. But I’m not willing to throw away a year of life. I’m not very happy with a lot of things that happened in 2020, but I’m glad 2020 was here and I was there for the show. The alternative is worse.
I don’t enjoy the mask-on mask-off dance. I don’t like standing six feet apart from others and trying to figure out what local, state or national ordinances are in effect, and where. I mourn the lives lost to COVID, the business and financial distress many have suffered. The political season was and still is a dumpster fire. The world seems ever more full of “experts” eager to tell me what to do and what to think, just in case I wasn’t aware of my hidden foibles, biases and problems.
But I’m still here, my family, friends and our little town are still here, and daily life goes on. Our corner of the Hill Country is doing better than a lot of other places. Our local leaders are working hard to minimize governmental interference while elected leaders elsewhere grasp for power and control. Good things have happened in the midst of the storm. Many things have changed in my personal schedule, but what I’ve lost has been replaced with so many new activities that I can’t possibly do everything I want to do.
When the Roman poet Horace said “Carpe diem,” he wasn’t saying “Have a nice day.” He was saying “Seize the day.” Grab the day that you find yourself in and do your best to make something of it. It’s the only day you have. That was true for Horace in the first century BC and was just as true for us in 2020. And it will be true again in 2021.