upgraded to Monterey- dock has disappeared!!

I just upgraded to Monterey on my MacBook Pro (late 2016)- i7 processor, 16GB RAM, 1 TB SSD-

My dock has disappeared. System preferences shows that it should be visible (auto hide/show not checked).

Also, I have desktop pictures all downloaded, but I am unable to select a desktop background. My personalized one disappeared and a black screen is all there is.

Otherwise, the computer is functioning just fine.

any ideas???

Thanks!