Has it been 10 years?

Ten years since the world gathered to usher in the year 2000 — the dawn of a new millennium to many, unless you were one of those technically-you're-right folks who believed the millennium actually began in 2001.

Whatever, it's been a decade marked by a strange mix of hope and anxiety, of good times and dashed dreams, of happiness — and terror.

What to make of it all? This column was initially written in late November. A couple of weeks later, Time magazine's cover story declared the 2000s to be "The Decade From Hell." Not a good assessment.

Looking back, the tone was set from the start. The world spent 1999 waiting to party, but also cast a wary eye on something called "Y2K" (remember that?), in which all of the planet's computers were supposed to go haywire as systems switched from "1999" to "2000."

It never happened, and on New Year's Eve it became pretty apparent early in the day that things were going to be OK. As morning broke in America, we watched midnight strike in Auckland and Sydney and Tokyo — and the lights stayed on over there.

Throughout the day, we watched the global party inch ever closer to our shores. And then we got dressed up and grabbed our bubbly and headed out to celebrations of our own.

There was talk of terrorism in Times Square; but, like Y2K, that never happened. After all, imagine terrorists striking America.

When the confetti settled, we turned to a new presidential election: George W. Bush vs. Al Gore. Already, something began clouding things: talk of rigged voting booths and "hanging chads" and a "stolen" presidency.

For a while, we distracted ourselves with the likes of Gary Condit (remember him?) The economy was slipping a little, but the good times were still rolling.

Then came Sept. 11, 2001. What else is there to be said?

We united — for a while. But it wasn't to last, as we became divided over a war in Iraq while we had to stand barefoot in airport security lines at home. We were told to "go shopping." But it also seemed like anyone could afford to buy a house, and that maybe we'd be OK after all. Didn't Wall Street say so?

Bust, went the bubble. And then came the mutterings of a second Great Depression.

But there was optimism, then joy, as America elected its first African-American president. A fresh, new age seemed to have dawned.

The honeymoon didn't last, swamped by talk of health care reform and job losses and "tea parties" and swine flu. Even the new president's supporters began to feel a creeping uncertainty.

And so here we are as 2010 begins.

We catch our breath after an exhausting decade. We wait for normal to return, whatever "normal" is, or ever was.

And we hope, even as we look over our shoulders.