The bills kept coming. The days got shorter, then longer and are getting shorter again.
The weight yo-yo’d, arguments were lost, bets won, bad news kept rolling in and good news continued popping up.
Yeah. Life went on after the United States men’s national soccer team last year this week failed to qualify for the 2018 Men’s World Cup. It was the first time in decades that the red, white and blue failed to advance to the quadrennial soccer tournament.
Die-hard USA soccer fans bemoaned the state of affairs within the U.S. Soccer Federation and the team’s coach — the second in a year — resigned.
Meanwhile businesses along Chula Vista’s Third Avenue still operated, some with more success than others; some families on the east side of the city still had to drive a little further and a little longer to buy their groceries because the Shops at San Miguel still was host to a giant vacant storefront where an Albertsons had been; Chula Vista still searched for a four-year university but reveled in the progress of its bayfront development.
National City still chugged along, doing its best to plug along with its mariachi festival and car shows despite the families that were separated because of raids by ICE.
Bars in National City thrived when Mexico played in their World Cup games and then reverted back to the usual crowd when they lost and were eliminated.
A National City councilman was exposed for having illegal renovations made to his home, ignoring fines and citations and being treated better than the average resident in the same position.
The same elected official would accuse a colleague of sexual harassment after she had inadvertently bumped into him during a photo opportunity and then tell an investigator to drop the whole matter because, evidently, it didn’t really happen.
In other words, politics as usual and life going on.
A year later and the United States Soccer team still does not have a head coach. Little has changed in that arena, though a new crop of players and an interim coach registered a victory over cross-border rival Mexico in a friendly game last month.
The sick and elderly pass away with regularity while newborns and young children still bring hope and promise to the voids left behind.
In Southern California the leaves and grass are turning from bright green to light-green brownish and the chilly 64 degree nights demand that ladies where fur lined boots with their shorts and workout tights.
Unlike last year this November there will be elections and, to a degree, an opportunity to change more of the same.
But ultimately, life will go on.
