I think, if 2016 could be captured,caged and paraded through the streets, like the soulless monster that it was, we would line the streets, all of us, angrily waiting our turn to spit and cast our insults at our tormentor. Unless it’s raining of course. If its raining I will probably just stay home and yell at the television. Could it be that 2016 was just misunderstood? A year that became the scapegoat for all our past sins? History will judge I suppose. I will freely admit that out of the years that I have to judge from memory, this one is at the top. History will most likely record one thing however, that a woman ran for president. There was no revolutionary war. There was no civil war, no world war. No smallpox outbreak, no black plague. Our leaders did a lot of name calling but no duels were fought. we didn’t even have a Great Depression. Someday we will choose a woman to lead our country, and then there will be no mention of this year at all.

What will I remember about 2016? Men pretending to be women and a country unsure of of which bathroom to use. Petting zoos and safe spaces for adults that were unable to face reality. Arguments about whose lives matter and organized assassinations of our men and women in blue. The exposed underbelly of a corrupt political system where Attorney Generals and FBI Directors do the unspeakable. And to finish the year off, an administration that for eight years vowed to lead from behind, decided to take the point. Many of you will have a different recollection of 2016 but this is how I will remember it.

So when that cage comes to my town, rain or no rain, I will be there, but only to gaze in amazement at how easy it was and wonder if we learned anything as we step into a new year.