The Monitor’s annual report: It was…a year

Back on March 13, which seems several eternities ago, I sent an email to John Blodgett, then The Monitor’s editor, with the subject line, “What I was thinking at 3 a.m.” 

This is what I had been thinking at 3 a.m.: “The reality of Jefferson County soon is going to intersect with the rest of the world. We should consider how best to anticipate that and help keep people informed. e.g., I’m sure schools are talking about shutting down; I’d be very surprised if high school spring sports don’t get canceled within the next week. The health clinic has to be considering a potential surge in demand for testing. And what will happen to all the public meetings?”

It soon emerged: They were; they did; it was; and, Zoom. A few days later, the Health Department announced the county’s first confirmed case of COVID-19, and off we hurtled into a year that has defied easy summarization. (But let’s try: Challenging. Tragic. Bizarre.) The Monitor’s reality, like much of the world’s, would be dramatically altered; the pandemic became the story.