Despite hardships, residents found ribbons of resilience everywhere

It’s hard to see anything but the pain and suffering caused by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, hard to ignore the havoc it wreaked on people’s lives and livelihoods as businesses and schools shuttered, hard to forget the tens of thousands who were sickened by COVID-19 and left with lingering side effects and hard not to be heartbroken by the more than 1,000 who died.

But even as North County stumbled to adapt to online learning and working from home, and to combat the isolation, stress and uncertainty that followed, it eventually found the ribbons of resilience that wrapped around dinner tables; neighborhood parks; drive-by graduations, birthday parties and concerts; and, yes, Zoom meetings.

Everywhere, there were pockets of joy, nuggets of satisfaction, grains of gratitude.

Early in the pandemic, the county’s beaches were shut down to prevent the spread of the virus, only to reopen in late April as the ocean coughed up a surprise with an algae bloom known as a red tide. Beachgoers flocked to see the dazzling displays of bioluminescence, flashes of green or blue light visible at night.

Wildlife, including mule deer, bobcats and mountain lions, began showing up in old habitats that had been overtaken by humans who were now quarantining in their homes.

Cities conducted business, decisions were made, elections held. Let’s take a look back at some of the other notable events from this year.

CARLSBAD

Carlsbad’s highlights for the year included a new City Council member, Teresa Acosta, elected in November to fill a seat that was vacant for most of the year.

Acosta is the first person to represent the council’s District 4. The five-seat council had

K.C. ALFRED U-T FILE Foam washed ashore on much of the San Diego County coastline in May, a product of the red tide that hung around for more than a month. Beachgoers flocked to see the bioluminescence, flashes of green or blue light visible at night.