Major global events do strange things to our sense of time.
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Can it be a year since we watched from afar, in horror, as parts of the NSW South Coast went up in flames?
Last week's weather was relatively mild, even rainy. Despite a year of chaos, stress and uncertainty, the year is swooping to a close with a rushed sense of finality.
Many parts of Australia are righting themselves after prolonged toppling.
The drought that defined 2019 and the several years before it is behind us, and the brown, crispy sense of fatigue and hopelessness that dogged many parts of Australia's east coast is a distant memory, overlaid by the strangeness of everything that has come since.
But it needs to be noted that this time last year, entire communities were in the grip of an immediate and physical terror, one that would become an enduring reality for many more communities as the summer rolled on.
And that reality has not left for many affected communities.
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Never mind that fact that the reliable flow of seasonal tourists to the coast became a trickle once the fires were over, then an unwelcome flood after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Never mind that world events inevitably took over, and struggling coastal communities - and the horror they had been through - were quickly forgotten.
But for anyone who has driven through any of these areas in the past year - even just the drive over the ravaged Clyde Mountain en route to Batemans Bay - it's impossible to forget what has happened.
For many of us, it's suitably jarring to be marking an anniversary for something that happened pre-pandemic.
It's important to be jolted by the reality that many people still live with, even as we feel like the world may slowly be coming to rights again.
For residents of Bawley Point, a week-long orange horizon and smoke filled sky is hard to shake off.
And as they marked the anniversary last week, emotions were very much on the surface.
Summer is here, and crowds will soon return to the coast. Life goes on.
But for many living in those areas, life as they knew it ended this time last year, in fire and horror - the kind that sunny days, green fields and even an actual global pandemic will not chase away in a hurry.
"You start thinking of what happened and where we were and what we did, and 'I don't really want to go through that again', because you've got your family and your friends in the community," said resident Lise Percival.
"You think that you're OK, but then something happens and it affects you a little bit more than what you actually thought."
Not surprisingly, many locals have joined the ranks of volunteer firefighters, ready for what we're told will become a regular occurrence.
And as Canberrans start gearing up for their summer holidays in the familiar towns along our beloved South Coast, we should be mindful of what many local families are still going through, and still living with.
There are residents who have just barely begun to pick up the pieces and rebuild their lives, and more who won't for some time yet.
These communities need our support more than ever - something we've said before, and will continue to reiterate.
A year is a long time, especially one like 2020.
But we should acknowledge that recovery is slow, and for many, it's barely a moment since the fire raged.