Mark this one down. It’s history. On a brisk, 40-degree morning, under clear blue skies, and the snow-capped San Gabriel Mountains, Pasadena came up roses for the first time in 730 days.

Crowds were smaller than during a pre-pandemic year, and anxiety was much higher. But the parade was a go nonetheless.

Jan. 1, 2022: The Tournament of Roses Parade — the 133rd spectacle of its kind in a storied history — happened, ushering in a new and universally hoped-for better year in a COVID-era world fundamentally different from the last time this parade happened.

You could hear that change in the lyrics of LeAnn Rimes — opening the parade with a wish in a song:

“If I could throw my arms around the world.

Maybe I could love it back to life…”

And with echo of her opening, and after a sobering, pandemic-soaked 2021, color came back to the parade’s 5.5-mile route along Colorado Boulevard.

It’s where the floats — adorned with their multicolored arrays of  carnations, chrysanthemums and orchids — were lined up to dazzle.

After Rimes’ song, a B-2 soared over the crowd and set off a few car alarms in the process. The crowd, more dense at the parade’s starting point than at other places along the route, roared in response.

The symbolism of the pageant of floats and music, seen by millions globally on TV, was not lost in the Pasadena parade zeitgeist.

As Honda’s “Believe and Achieve” rounded the corner from Orange Grove Boulevard onto Colorado Boulevard, the parade’s first float seemed to beckon for a brighter year — depicting a young girl, wearing a rocket jet pack she’s designed and built, blasting off into her own future. Blasting off. New beginnings. New frontiers — metaphors and analogies for something better in 2022?

Though crowds were much thinner than the usual Rose Parade clamor, the scene from 5 a.m. on through the morning was a far cry from an eerily empty street 365 days ago, when in the midst of a catastrophic winter surge, Pasadena, like the rest of the nation and world, was experiencing the worst of the pandemic.

The toll of the virus’s first full year, 2020, had ended in the cancellation of the 2021 parade for the first time since World War II. At the time, COVID-19 had claimed more than 10,000 lives in Los Angeles County. By Jan. 1, 2022, it had claimed nearly 28,000 lives.

Indeed. This year’s parade comes as the highly transmissible omicron variant is raging. Pasadena itself is seeing among the city’s highest case rates ever, as frontline workers from hospitals to law enforcement across the region are beginning to call in sick after testing positive for the virus.

On Thursday, hoping to keep as many of its own frontline workers available to work, Kaiser Permanente pulled seven medical staffers from atop and 13 from around its planned entry, “Healthier Future” float.

“We must prioritize the health and safety of our front-line medical staff,” the company said in a statement, and “ensure we are able to treat patients during this recent surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the omicron variant.”

But organizers on Saturday had no regrets in the decision to go forward, amid a 2022 surge that public health experts say is likely to get worse before it gets better. The difference between this year and last is that vaccines are ubiquitous, and there’s hope that at least the latest variant is not as potent as past versions of the virus.

Also, the idea was to also celebrate scientists, teachers and frontline workers who have kept society afloat for the last two years, parade officials said.

Eads and local public health and safety officials acknowledged the inherent risks of spreading among the most high-profile outdoor New Year’s Day events in the world. Planners leaned on a feasibility study by USC Keck School of Medicine.

This year, city leaders had ramped up discussions to prepare for the thousands coming from Utah and Ohio to watch their college football teams play in the The Rose Bowl Game.

Spectators at the route’s “TV Corner,” from Green Street to the turn from Orange Grove onto Colorado — were required to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test. Pasadena Police Chief John Perez asked locals and tourists to travel light. And officials emphasized that no furniture, couches or bonfires would be tolerated in the traditional camping out along Colorado.

Public health officials took solace in the fact that the event was outside, and cautioned people with compromised immune systems to consider staying home and catching the parade on TV this year. Some Rose-related events were canceled,  including public float decorating and the Lawry’s Beef Bowl feast for the bowl game’s beefy participants.

The week’s heavy rain also drenched pre-parade events and cut down on their crowds — including the two-day Bandfest featuring Rose Parade marching bands, and Equestfest, the showcase for equestrian groups.

None of it stopped the die-hards, though.

Just like during non-COVID times, some stalwarts hit the streets on Friday at noon and planned to camp out overnight for the best spots.

“I guess with the pandemic, some people aren’t willing to risk it; they will just watch on TV,” said Michael Galindo, bundled up in a blanket. “But if I have the chance to go, I a going to watch it — especially since my friends are in it.”

And it didn’t stop the spectacle that thousands of volunteers and parade entries, from around the country and world, had been preparing for throughout a pandemic-ridden year.

They were determined to put on a parade soaked in themes of education, literacy, the importance of science, determination and perseverance.

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Entries included the city of Alhambra’s “School Rocks” float — its classic yellow school bus modified with race tires and flame paint job. There was the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s “Vaccinate Our World” entry — encouraging vaccine equity in the world’s poorest countries. “Stargazers,” the float built by students at Cal Poly Pomona and San Luis Obispo urged viewers to heed the parade’s “dream” theme, riffing off the “Hey, Diddle Diddle” nursery rhyme.

Rodeo performers. The Salvation Army Tournament of Roses Band. Mini-Therapy Horses. The Los Angeles Unified School District High School Honor Band — all marching. Entrants came from all over, from Pasadena to Tennessee.

Singer Jimmie Allen was scheduled to bookend the parade with a song called “Good Times Roll.”

Let’s hope so, 2022. Let’s hope so.