The traditional gift for a second anniversary is something made from cotton. Since I'm awash in concert T-shirts and old beat-up bulky sweatshirts, there's really no obligation for readers to scramble to purchase me any last-minute trinkets of appreciation. I would hate for the newspaper's office to be swamped with generous tributes pledging allegiance to my writing mediocrity.

For clarification, January commemorates two years in which I've written a weekly column for The Day. This humbling endeavor has strengthened my respect and admiration for anyone who makes their living creating magic by drawing a pen across a blank page. This ain't always easy. Deciphering the interesting from the mundane can prove problematic and I grimace imagining the struggle to do it daily.

Existing in the present, and the inevitable tunnel vision created by a 24-hour news cycle, it was eye-opening to look over the last 700 days and evaluate the complete ledger of topics discussed in this forum. Over 100 columns — ranging from an epic Department of Energy and Environmental Protection failure, to a wild Betsy Ross Flag controversy, to a theoretical naming of Connecticut's "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse."

As you might recall, "The Orange Man" Donald Trump starred in the lion's share of these commentaries. In fact, 11 columns focused in some capacity on Trump; 10 primarily looked at circumstances surrounding COVID-19; Governor Ned Lamont was the star in nine, and the state-controlled Democratic legislature had top billing in eight.

Seven columns were written defending police departments; six had to do with nationwide partisan division, and another half-dozen columns were monopolized by tolls. Five obsessed on immigration; five more on political correctness; and four centered on being patriotic.

Recently, the columns have fixated on either Joe Biden's inability to lead and his radical left-leaning agenda, or the motif and mechanism of potential fraud in modern-day elections.

I used loads of ink discussing media-bias, taxes, racism, crime, the Second Amendment and attacks on it, radical extremism, gambling, paid family leave, and a giant GOP leadership breakdown.

There were columns about my neighbor Costco, baseball, the internet, the NCAA, unscrupulous politicians, the death penalty, minimum wage, Congressman Joe Courtney, transgender athletes, plastic bags, dogs, education, climate change, crushing national debt, beluga whales, Senators Murphy and Blumenthal, income inequalities, and the unpayable debt we owe our veterans.

This experience has reaffirmed my sentiments of just how divided we have become on issues that seem so straight forward. If I think something is up, then my critics will immediately take the position that it's down. Concepts that appear foreign to me, which lack even the slightest inkling of common sense from my perspective, are championed by thousands of ardent readers.

Insulated in my radio studio, I rarely get callers with the guts enough to challenge my positions. It's even rarer if an elected leader with opposing viewpoints ventures into my broadcast domain (kudos to Governor Lamont, state Senator Cathy Osten and a few others for bucking that trend).

But the newspaper column? Well, that’s a different matter. Sometimes the pushback, the online comments, and the letters to the editor leave me dazed and confused.Hopefully, most by now have concluded that I am not a crazy right-wing lunatic. But I will never be an apologist for what I believe to be just and right, even if that means pushing against the tide of political correctness.

Maybe, moving forward, we can start by agreeing with a united stand against hypocrisy, against liars, and against attacks on our liberties and freedoms to live as we see fit and say what we mean. However, if those ground rules are nonstarters for my many detractors, then maybe we're destined to forever be at odds.

In any event, our disagreements will continue to be considerable. But here’s hoping for a fresh start in 2021 with the acknowledgment that the spirit of compromise is not a bad thing. In fact, maybe it’s the only way to save us from our disagreeable selves.

Lee Elci is the morning host for 94.9 News Now radio, a station that provides "Stimulating Talk" with a conservative bent.