“Sounds a little hippie-dippie, but I thought then and there that the dolphin was a good omen for the year ahead. Things were going to be alright; the dolphin was a little sign from the universe to me on the last day of 2020,” writes columnist KATE MEIKLE.

LAST New Year’s Eve, I was enjoying a dip at Henley Beach in Adelaide with my family. 

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky on that typical dry-heat Adelaide morning and the water of the suburban beach was perfectly still. 

Suddenly, I was alerted by the sound of the nearby father and son exclaiming and pointing to the water ahead of them. 

I saw a fin.

Dread came over me. 

Also, I thought at that moment: “Oh that would be right after the year it’s been… of course, we will now be attacked by a shark”. 

My first, mother-bear physical reaction was to grab my small daughter who jumped into my arms. We were only in knee-height water, and I started moving back towards the beach. 

But then my husband cried out: “It’s a dolphin!” and I stopped. 

We all watched a beautiful, peaceful dolphin swim past. 

There was a distinct moment of realisation that it was not, as I feared, a shark but a perfectly harmless dolphin making its way through the water. This shift from terror to wonderment was profound. 

Sounds a little hippie-dippie, but I thought then and there that it was a good omen for the New Year ahead. Things were going to be alright; the dolphin was a little sign from the universe to me on the last day of 2020. Ahhhh. 

I would visualise the dolphin many times, usually before bed. The peacefulness and hope that the dolphin represented was a nice way to drift off to sleep. I decided that the dolphin would be my “spirit animal” of sorts for the year, as I searched for meaning in the brief dolphin encounter. 

Yes, I was probably way too excited about the dolphin for my own good, but I needed something positive to symbolise the future for me and tell me that things were going to be alright. That’s what the dolphin was for me!

Well, we all know that as 2021 played out for us all, it was sadly much more of a shark sort of year than a dolphin. 

It’s been another year of immense challenges, sacrifice and stress. 

I’ve lost a piece of myself to the shark this year and have some scars to show for it. 

But, hey, we’ve just about made it to the end. 

I won’t get a second chance to see the dolphin at Henley Beach this summer – SA’s overbearing “test and isolate” requirements have rendered our annual family trip too hard and too complicated. Another annoyance to bear. 

My kids regularly tell the story of when we saw the dolphin – each time they retell it, mummy’s reaction gets squeakier and louder as I scream: “It’s a shark!” and I run comically to the beach, every time getting more ridiculous. We’ve dined out on the dolphin story this year and it’s made me smile… every time. 

Perhaps 2022 will be the “do-over” dolphin year? We can only hope. But like the dolphin, we can only keep swimming and searching for calm waters ahead. 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.