Dickens nailed the spirit of 2019 when he penned the opening paragraph of A Tale of Two Cities.
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"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair."
What words could sum up this topsy turvy, chaotic and tragic, and yet on occasion, oddly comic, year better?
We have been delivered wisdom and foolishness by the truckload, experienced the passions of belief and scepticism, and experienced hope and despair.
All of these can be found in the dominant issue of the last 12 months; the debate over anthropogenic climate change.
While Australians voted with their wallets, delivering the Coalition a victory nobody but Morrison and a handful of his inner circle believed was possible, it seems likely the next Federal election will be fought on very different ground.
The fires that have shrouded Sydney and Canberra in smoke for months and the worst drought in our recorded history have been linked to the changing climate.
They, along with the recent heat events, were a wakeup call to city folk unaccustomed to such extremes.
The drought and the fires have changed Australia more than any other single factor in 2019.
The drought and the fires have changed Australia more than any other single factor, including the Coalition's third straight election victory, this year.
That is cold comfort to Anthony Albanese and the ALP which is still grappling with the consequences of an election defeat some see as the beginning of a death spiral.
In a strange twist of fate Albanese found himself trying to re-engage with Queensland coal workers at the same time the fires were putting climate change back on the political agenda.
2019 also delivered the latest chapters in the ongoing saga of George Pell, the prince of the church convicted of historical sex abuse offences in December, 2018.
His final appeal, to the High Court, is expected to be heard in late March or early April.
Moving on from our own small corner of the globe, life has also been colourful, challenging and unpredictable around the world.
US President, Donald Trump, has had a better year than many expected.
Not only has he presided over the rise and rise of the US stock market, indirectly lifting ours to record highs along with it, and apparently defeated the Chinese in a trade war many pundits warned was about to end the world as we knew it; he has also managed to turn being impeached into a political asset.
Unless the Republicans, a group long noted for their hard-nosed pragmatism, suddenly decide to form a political suicide cult, there is absolutely no doubt Trump will contest the November 2020 Presidential election against an, as yet, unnamed Democrat. Some very early polling suggests he will win a second term.
Back at home, Queensland goes back to the polls at almost the same time on October 31, 2020, with all 93 seats in its unicameral parliament up for grabs.
The two term incumbent Labor government, currently led by Annastacia Palaszczuk, will be hoping for a third term. Like Federal Labor it also pivoted to the right on coal mining and the environment in the wake of the 2019 Federal election.
The outcome of the Queensland poll, along with the US election, will be seen as strong indicators of what forces will shape Australia and the world in the new decade.
