Canberra is waking up: it's time for us to enjoy our city again

Omicron is still ever-present and entire communities - including the university students currently holed up in their residences at ANU - are currently isolating as infections rise.

But there was so much happening over the weekend, and so much more on offer throughout March, that it's worth reminding everyone that despite the tenor of the news, life does go on.

And life has surely returned to our city, masks or no masks. It's the start of what is, historically, the best month in Canberra, culture-wise, with Enlighten, the Night Noodle Markets and the Balloon Festival brightening up the shores of the lake.

The national cultural institutions are doing what they do best, staging big, beautiful exhibitions that open our minds to the rest of the world - ancient Greek artefacts, celebrity portraits, Hollywood memorabilia, modern art, local history.

We've had the Royal Canberra Show and before that, Summernats.

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The Lifeline Book Fair was sadly spoiled but that, too, was driven by world forces, and reminded us that, despite what the rest of the world may think, Canberra does represent a symbolic centre and touchpoint for life as we know it.

Meanwhile, restaurants are opening and serving full menus, adapting to a landscape where staff shortages and COVID restrictions are just things to be weathered, rather than reasons to despair.

Cinemas are open, dancing is back on the menu and large-scale sports events are filling up the calendar.

The school term is well and truly under way, and the tidal surge of cases we were bracing for did not eventuate.

Ditto the return to office life, which should by now be peppered with new, more hygienic habits and a newfound appreciation for colleague banter and general office life.

Canberra, in other words, is back. And the least we can do is enjoy everything on offer, at least while we can.

If this pandemic has taught us anything lasting, it's to take our enjoyments while they last.

How many times have we realised, belatedly, how much we have blithely taken for granted?

It was true when the pandemic first closed in back in 2020, and even more true when Canberra locked down again in August last year.

Even the weather - rainy, with more in the forecast - is something to be grateful for. It may have hampered the weekend's music festivals and noodle markets, but it's surely a metaphor for growth and renewal - if we can just bring ourselves to look at it that way.

After all, there was a time, not that long ago, when rain seemed a distant, far-off event that may never reach our hot, dry landscape again, when our dams were running low and bushfires were a constant threat.

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Those days are temporarily in the past and while the pandemic is far from over, it's as good a time as any to start picking ourselves up (again) and heading out into the world.

Meanwhile, Canberra's most spectacular season will unfold around us as it always does, reminding us yet again that life goes on. But let's not lose momentum if we can help it.

Let's do everything we can to support those whose livelihoods depend on everyone just getting on with it.

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