Halfway through - is this year more normal?

June – the first month of winter, when the temperature drops, and the frost is ushered in. We are halfway through 2022. This year has slipped past quickly and borne us through what we hope is the aftermath of Covid, as well as global conflict and an election. Thus far, as we look forward and back, the question is raised: is this a normal year?

This year, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine broke into the headlines. The global landscape is changing. The suffering of millions has been made apparent to the world, and the outcome is yet unclear. This conflict is not the only upheaval that has taken place in another part of the world, but it has made real to many the threats that democracy and peace sustain, and the fact that we can take neither for granted.

Australia’s own democracy was enacted this year with the federal election. People in the Red Centre voted on who their new member of parliament would be, creating a close race between the candidates. One of the most geographically isolated parts of Australia, we still hold onto the importance of being represented in the Australian parliament. Via the ballot box, our voice was heard. A new Prime Minister and government have taken centre stage, and an unknown future awaits.

A winter sunset in Central Australia - halfway through the year 

This year has also seen unusual temperatures. In the Central Desert, summer was not so fierce, and winter began earlier. The floods in other parts of Australia which wrecked untold damage and trauma have not yet visited Alice Springs, although the sky has been grey and overcast more frequently than usual. Now that winter has arrived, the landscape is becoming more accessible with the cooler weather, and the trails and paths through the MacDonnell Ranges are open for adventurers. 

Winter is the tourist season for the Territory, and after two years of closed borders, the blue sea of the Top End, and the iconic Red Centre are now open for business; everyone hopes, permanently. The internal borders of Australia are once again completely porous. In that respect, normality has returned, and connections with far away friends and family restored. However, in a world in constant flux, the one thing that the previous years have taught us is that uncertainty is always rife, and a given of human existence. Uncertainty has become expected, and in this respect: yes, 2022 is a normal year.