Times Square was less populated this year than last, with revelers in masks and fewer people—just two!—to set the ball descent to 2021 in motion as comparted to 2020. More locally, meanwhile, a ‘cloud of unknowing’ descended on the Stanley-Boyd country the day after New Years on January 2,

with heavy fog and resultant poor visibility making the road ahead uncertain for those who dared venture out. Then again, if you’ve been cooped up at home for months on end, that new uncertainty may not have looked so bad.

“I’m just hoping for some normalcy,” Jay Howell said after the ball had dropped in Times Square but before the fog came from south of Highway 29 regarding his hopes

for the barely inaugurated new year, adding that even if it meant wearing a mask, “just give us a chance,” he said of the specter for normal activity. The pandemic had been really stressful this year, especially on and with kids. “My kids have been at home since March,” he said.

North of Highway 29 at

Kwik Trip, meanwhile, Linda Fredrickson had her own thoughts to share on hopes for the New Yar after the fog had cleared as frosted aftermath decked the trees in crystal white ice on Sunday January 3. “That this virus goes away soon,” she said of new year’s hope, but also that, “people learn the importance of family,” as life takes a halt from the everyday hurried pace of before. Still another resident with local ties, S-B Class of 2017 graduate Braxton Thompson, had this to hope for when asked. “Only thing I’m hoping for is more social understanding,” he shared, adding, “Thanks for asking me!”

Further down and high up in the Andes Mountains at Quito, Ecuador, meanwhile, one-time Class of 2007 exchange student Danny Leiva of Ecuador had his own thoughts to share on the pandemic and its impact, both on him and the country of Ecuador more generally.

Saying that he was able to work remotely and was able to rent his own place for the _rst time this year with

a decrease in rents, Leiva “It’s kind of interesting for me because I don’t have to do a lot of human interaction plus I have to stay home where I have my studio,” he said, being involved in music. At the same time, he acknowledged that not everyone had been so fortunate or was as able to stay at home for long periods of time.

“However, thinking of the people around my area and Ecuador, not many people can stay at home because they don’t have money and live day by day,” Leiva said. “For me, because I have a job, because I have a home, I can continue living NEW YEAR

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in this way.” Not everyone was or had been so lucky. In addition, Leiva added that he had heard a lot of stories where people “have to let their relatives die due to not being able to afford the vaccine” or health care more generally, a side effect of poverty in the not as fortunate country materially speaking. At the same time, the “warmer” Ecuadorian culture in terms of human relationships (such that people naturally stand closer to each other in conversation during the best of times) was also making the pandemic hard on many, with underground parties reportedly having been organized by some as a way for people to stay close to each other. “Not having that is really hard for people,” he said of close human interaction in Ecuador.

Closer to the Stanley-Boyd Country, meanwhile, the All Saints church bulletin letter dropped off at the newspaper of- _ce by a parishioner had somewhat better news to share. In the _rst place, parish religious education was to be back in session as of January 6th for grades 6-8 as well as grade 10.

It was reported that St. Joseph’s School in Boyd had gathered by the patio area of the church rectory (pastor’s house) for a Christmas tree blessing along with some hot chocolate, cookies, and Christmas carols, while the 2020 Christmas concert had been videotaped without parents, each family receiving a DVD of the event instead. There was more though, in the pastor’s letter.

“For obvious reasons, I have really appreciated the lights and decorations this year,” Father Felix wrote his church family in the weekly ‘Pastor’s Journal,’ with Felix due to reach ‘senior priest’ status at 70, having been _rst ordained in the 1980s. “Happy New

Year everyone!” he wrote. “Finally 2020 is over!”

In due and proper fashion then, here’s to the year 2021 and the (hopefully if uncertain) better days to come.