MORNING ROLL CALL! January-March 2021 CLOSED
Closed
Good morning everyone on this Friday morning January 1, 2021
Good morning to everyone on the Front Porch on this January 1, 2021!
A difficult year comes to a muted end
Most places in the world, from a virtually coronavirus-free New Zealand to an Ireland in lockdown, have now greeted the arrival of 2021.
In Auckland, a fireworks show and parties went on as usual. The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus first emerged, enjoyed boisterous festivities. But in general, celebrations were muted — or virtual — as the world bade good riddance to a difficult year. In most cities, there were no roaring crowds, no gatherings for fireworks shows and, let’s hope, no strangers kissing at midnight.
Though Madrid eased its curfew for the night from midnight to 1:30 a.m., people were told to stay at home as much as possible, to eat the traditional New Year’s Eve grapes while watching events on TV (and gathering in groups of no more than six). London’s Big Ben, largely silent in recent years as its clock tower underwent renovations, rang 12 times at midnight. And in Paris, the only people roaming the Champs-Élysées were some of the 100,000 police officers deployed around the country to prevent crowds from gathering.
