"High Hopes"

2013....arrived right on schedule....the early predictions about the Mayan calendar and the potential "end of the world" on 12/21/12 turned out to be nothing more than a hysterical reaction to a misunderstanding of how the Mayan calendar works and the resultant media hype.  According to the premier Mayan expert (who happens to be on faculty at the University of Texas here in Austin,) the only thing ending according to the calendar is the current cycle of history (or something like that) and there never was a  prediction or indication that the world was ending.  And obviously that is correct!  No Apocalypse, no stray comet or asteroid, no visit from aliens, no enemy attacks.....nothing!

According to Science Magazine, scientists even found confirmation of the existence of a sub-atomic particle known as the Higgs boson during 2012. 

The long-sought-after particle - believed to impart mass to all other matter in the universe - was made by researchers at the CERN particle physics lab near Geneva, using the $5.5 billion atom smasher called the Large Hadron Collider.

That they managed to confirm that the Higgs Boson, was right were it was expected to be without actually replicating a full-scale Big Bang was a surprise (it seemed like a real possibility to me, but then I'm no scientist.)  Finding it at all was a surprise to many, including Stephen Hawking, who expected that the confirmation would not occur for many years.  Still they found it, they didn't blow us all up in the process, and the world did not end with the discovery of the "God Particle."

The Presidential Election came and went without riots in the streets or any backlash as predicted by some.  Speeches were made, names were called, mud was slung, candidates were defeated, candidates were elected, and for a grateful nation life finally returned to normal.

Hurricane Sandy seemed like it might be a doomsday kind of storm what with the strong hurricane force winds and precipitation meeting up with the winter cold front coming from the north.  But while it was Big and it was Strong, and it was a Disaster....it was not a doomsday kind of storm.  Just a big ol' hurricane in a part of the country that doesn't normally get hit by hurricanes.

Then there was Aurora and even more horrific, Sandy Hook.   A disaster of such magnitude that it impacted the whole world, and it felt like the end of the world for the families and friends of the victims.  We all felt the shock and horror and anger and pain of the loss of the 20 children and 9 adults due to the actions of one deranged killer.  As horrible as these were, they were single events perpetrated by single individuals and not the end of civilization (though in some ways it felt like it!).

In addition to the above list, 2012 was a typical year with a lot of other ups and downs

• The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II 
• Greek government debt crisis 
• Arab Spring

• Encyclopædia Britannica discontinues its print edition.
• Lonesome George, the last known individual of the Pinta Island Tortoise subspecies, dies at a Galapagos National Park, thus making the subspecies extinct.
• The 2012 Summer Olympics are held in London, England, United Kingdom.
•  2012 India blackouts leave 620 million people without power

• Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory mission's rover, successfully lands on Mars.
•  Garment factory fires in the Pakistani cities of Karachi and Lahore kill 315 and seriously injure more than 250

•  A series of terrorist attacks are directed against United States diplomatic missions worldwide, as well as diplomatic missions of Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In Libya, among the dead is US ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.
• Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner becomes the first person to break the sound barrier without any machine assistance during a record space dive out of the Red Bull Stratos helium-filled balloon from 24 miles (39 kilometers) over Roswell, New Mexico in the United States.

• Typhoon Bopha, known as "Pablo" in the Philippines, kills at least 1,067 with around 838 people still missing. The typhoon caused considerable damage in the island of Mindanao

• The UN General Assembly approves a motion granting Palestine non-member observer state status

Nevertheless, we survived it and now we move into 2013.....we have "High Hopes" that this year will be better than last. And lastly.....we really hope that nobody else predicts the end of the world anytime soon!! :)

Happy New Year!