There could not have been a better day for the Riverina to emerge from an onerous month-long lockdown.
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It is difficult to describe, but there was a different atmosphere wherever you went on Saturday.
A buzz. An electricity. A mixture of elation and relief, expectation and anticipation.
Even Mother Nature recognised the occasion and gifted us our warmest day since the start of May.
Best of all, people were smiling again.
Genuine smiles. Not half-hearted-if-I-don't-laugh-I'll-cry smiles. And we could actually see them because we weren't all wearing masks!
On that note, I must say, Wagga has been fantastic in terms of mask-wearing over the past couple of months.
The city was probably a bit slow off the mark to adopt masks when it was optional, perhaps due to our relative isolation insulating us from the worst of the virus.
But as soon as they become compulsory in certain situations, the vast majority of people jumped onboard and have been doing the right thing.
In fact, although the mask-wearing restrictions have been eased, we are probably going to see a lot of people still wearing them when going about their business in public.
And that is absolutely OK. We can't completely drop our guard just because we've earned back some freedoms.
September 11, 2021 was a day to remember, just as September 11, 2001 was a day to remember, for different reasons of course.
How quickly 20 years has passed. How vivid those memories remain.
All the best for the week ahead,
Ross Tyson, editor