The View from a Drawbridge

It wasn’t hard to come up with a blog topic for Thanksgiving Day. In spite of an annoying tendency to feel sorry for myself for the past few years, I really do realize that I’m quite lucky, relatively speaking. So here is a list of things that I’m thankful for. It’s not all inclusive, of course, and by no means is it in order of importance.

• My dogs, who have always given me a reason to tie a knot and hang on when I was at the end of my rope.
• Pizza delivery.
• An employer who has been willing to re-hire me twice.
• Hot water.
• My intelligence. The thing I’m most confident about in life is that I’m capable of learning anything if I put my mind to it.
• Seasons.
• A car that usually starts.
• Chocolate.
• The roof over my head. I may not really be able to afford it, it may not be where I want it to be, but it keeps the rain off.
• Sex.
• Sunrises, sunsets and rainbows.
• Immunizations.
• My closest friends, who have always helped me keep things in perspective.
• This blog.
• Natural beauty.
• The internet.
• My government. It may be increasingly screwed up and insane, but I can be fairly confident that there won’t be a military coup, that the highways will stay paved, and that no civil war is imminent. Not everyone can be so sure of these things.
• Train whistles and fog horns.
• Public television and public radio.
• My sister, who will always have my back, as I have hers.
• Air conditioning.
• The fact that I have never once in my life gone to bed hungry.
• Art.

I’m grateful for these things not just today, but all year ’round. Happy Thanksgiving.