Let's dance our way into a new year!

(This Irish Christmas show with stars from River Dance was wonderful even virtually!)

"Bury the Wren" dance symbolizes in Irish folklore burying the old year. Yes, let's start afresh! Let's beat this pandemic!

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla in January 2019. Being chosen to serve as a U.S. senator is “immensely humbling,” he said.Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press. It’s official: California — a state where nearly 40 percent of the population identifies as Latino — will have its first Latino senator.  Alex Padilla, California’s secretary of state, has been appointed to replace Senator Kamala Harris when she becomes vice president.  And Shirley Weber, a State Assembly member, was tapped to replace Mr. Padilla as secretary of state. She’ll be the first Black woman in the role.

A health worker receiving the Pfizer vaccine in Philadelphia last week.Hannah Yoon for The New York Times The Trump administration and Pfizer are nearing a deal in which the drug maker would produce at least tens of millions of additional vaccine doses next year (2021) in exchange for better access to manufacturing supplies.  Dr. Anthony Fauci received Moderna’s vaccine in public, calling it “a symbol to the rest of the country that I feel extreme confidence in the safety and the efficacy of this vaccine.” I hope we can all receive the vaccine as quickly as possible! A Brexit deal has finally been worked out, though details are still coming. Snowy Utah...so gorgeous....(courtesy of Amy Ringer) Health care workers ring in the New Year.  I wrote the all the above before all hell broke loose this first full week of January. A quote from the New York Times sums up the tragic, outrageous events of the storming and destructive vandalism of our nation's beautiful Capitol building, symbol of democracy and constitutional law. To think that this desecration was encouraged and promoted by president Trump is outrageous, criminal. "The worst pandemic in a century is becoming more severe, with a contagious new coronavirus variant spreading and thousands of Americans dying every day. The mass vaccination program is behind schedule. Almost 10 million fewer Americans have jobs than did a year ago. The U.S. president, with the backing of dozens of members of Congress, has tried to overturn an election result and remain in power. Hundreds of his supporters overwhelmed police officers and stormed the Capitol, one of the few times in history that an U.S. government building has been violently attacked. All the while, the country lacks a president who has both the power and willingness to reduce the death, illness and mayhem. Instead, President-elect Joe Biden is left to rue that President Trump is denying the new government access to important national security information — and to plead with Trump to renounce the violence. Trump, for his part, appears disengaged from the worsening coronavirus crisis. Most other longtime democracies have much shorter lags between an election and the transfer of power. In Britain, a new government usually takes office the next day. In Canada, France, India and Japan, it happens within a few weeks." I have faith that our wonderful country and citizens will put things right and move on. I applaud all who have graciously accepted the election results, refused to take the side of violence and will uphold law and order, even, in some cases, stepping down from their cabinet or advisory posts to do what is right.