I know there are so many reasons not to anticipate 2018, many of them associated with Donald Trump. But there are many, many more reasons to celebrate and look forward to a better year, among them, of course, the chance to elect people to office who aren’t unprincipled backers of Donald Trump.

So, instead of griping let’s rejoice as we look ahead and these promising moments:

Connecticut was declared the 17th happiest state in America in 2017, so 2018 leaves us golden opportunities to climb over Vermont (13th) and New Hampshire (10th) to become the cheeriest of New England.

Connecticut enjoyed a white Christmas in 2017, and from the looks of the weather so far that will persist long past the Fourth of July and into Christmas of 2018. Jingle bells….

You can now purchase Hartford Whalers license plates. Let’s skip over why anyone wants a tag celebrating a long defunct hockey team.

Hartford’s Bradley International Airport has begun earning its title, now offering cheap seasonal flights to a variety of European destinations. And it’s a whole lot easier to fly out of Bradley than Boston’s Logan Airport.

Massachusetts will begin selling legal recreational marijuana in 2018. Oh well, at least it’s not a long trip to Mass.

It’s only four months until some shoreline lobster houses open for the year….