Best of 2021

Being Here Things

Jesse Clyde

• dry leaves clicking against silent-blue sky
• windy light-shift of branch shadow on a dusty window
• pools of heart-warm love collecting here and there
• hello hugs, goodbye hugs, and somewhere in-between hugs
• little blanket tunnels of soft pink crochet light

Reasons to get vaccinated

Squinn

• To keep yourself healthy
• To protect your loved ones
• To give new variants less change of emerging
• To allow local schools and businesses to operate safely
• To be a good citizen

Favorite YouTube videos

Jenni H

• Dance videos from ‘Let it Happen’
• Itchy Boots motorcycle adventures
• Nick Zentner Geology
• The story of Plastic
• Judi Dench ‘My passion for trees’

Takeaways from 2021: Benefits of working from home

Beth

• I saved a bunch of money by being able to work from home, instead of going to an office.
• By working from home, my day is much safer by staying off the road.
• I did not get sick one time since being away from the recirculated office air and others who carry their sicknesses to the office.
• I got many home improvements done.
• I am not nearly as tired and stressed out working at home, nor do I have to listen to others’ boring gossip.

MVPs of 2021

Jess Howard

• Pfizer-BioNTech
• Moderna
• Oxford-AstraZeneca
• Johnson & Johnson
• Bharat Biotech

Best places to ride your bike

Francesca Maier

• The walk-up window at Amethyst Creamery
• The double helix sidewalk south of PNNL
• Chamna in the fall and winter
• Your favorite restaurant in The Parkway
• Anywhere you have an errand

Reasons for Hope on Climate Change

Steve Ghan

• The U.S. and EU lined up over 100 countries at the COP26 meeting for a global methane pact to reduce emissions by 30% by 2030. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with a shorter lifetime than carbon dioxide, so its concentration will respond faster to emissions reductions from gas and oil wells, agriculture, and waste. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02112021/global-methane-pledge-cop26/
• Conservative support for action on climate change is growing. Both young Republicans and Republican state representatives expressed support for carbon dividends. https://www.yccdaction.org https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2021/6/4/22453352/carbon-dividend-act-republicans-for-climate-change
• American business supports market-based climate solutions. Both the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Petroleum Institute issued statements supporting market-based solutions. Meanwhile General Motors pledged to stop making gasoline-powered light-duty cars and SUVs by 2035. https://www.uschamber.com/climate-change/our-approach-to-climate-chang https://www.api.org/oil-and-natural-gas/environment/climate-change https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/01/28/general-motors-electric/
• Absolute decoupling of economic growth and emissions found in 32 countries, as CO2 emissions decline while GDP increases. While global emissions have not yet peaked (the decline in 2020 coincided with a decline in global economic product), the decoupling in 32 countries demonstrates that it is clearly possible. https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/energy/absolute-decoupling-of-economic-growth-and-emissions-in-32-countries
• Scientists now say global warming could stop relatively quickly after emissions go to zero. Warming would not increase further, as had been previously thought, and warming will decrease if emissions are replaced by net removal. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/03012021/five-aspects-climate-change-2020

Best Events of 2021

Noodles

• Trump Lost!
• COVID Vaccination approved for all teens
• COVID Vaccination approved for all adults
• Mariners run to the almost Playoffs
• First Kraken game

Favorite Books of 2021

Durga

• The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee
• The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth by Jonathan Rauch
• This Is Your Mind on Plants by Michael Pollan
• How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates
• The Heroine with 1001 Faces by Maria Tatar

Favorite places

BB

• Lotus of the Moon because I own it
• The Space because I co-own it
• Barracuda Coffee because it's my place to gather with family
• Dovetail Restaurant because they are COVID conscious
• Rollin ice cream because the owner is the real deal — authentic, kind, community-focused

Top 5 indie RPGs new to me

Brendan Quinn

• Stone Top
• Monster of the Week
• 10 Candles
• A Quiet Year
• MÖRK BORG

Main image by Jon Tyson on Unsplash.