2024 Is Finally Over. Now Let’s Forget That It Ever Happened.

“Competitive cheer is popular yet dangerous,” said The New York Times. It was talking about cheerleading but sounded uncannily like my Depression-scarred grandmother warning that too much laughter leads to tears. (She really used to say that.) “War seemed to be everywhere,” said The Washington Post. Even inside the Post’s own newsroom! “These photographs,” said Time, “allow us to not only prepare for what is to come, but to imagine something better.” Happy New Year.

Maybe I’m projecting. I really didn’t care for 2024. It was the year when Donald Trump recaptured the presidency, when “Zionist” became a term of abuse, and when my favorite local seafood restaurant closed its doors after 79 years in business. The only good thing that happened was the re-opening of Notre Dame in Paris, but that occurred too late for inclusion in the year-end photo essays. So did the passing of a genuinely good man, Jimmy Carter.

My own life, I should emphasize, went quite well in 2024, with no significant health problems, a happy family life, a satisfying work life, and more financial stability than I’ve been able to count on during the past decade. (Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be journalists.) Things did not, however, go well in the wider world.