I am thankful

     …that the rain has been falling so abundantly this autumn, and that there will be snow, too, we hope, falling abundantly this winter. When weather is as we have known it, we have reason to be thankful.

     …that I can be with my son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter for the holiday, sharing an abundant Thanksgiving meal with friends, laughing together, enjoying the children, talking about books and art and travels (they to Burning Man, I to the Dolomites) and, no doubt, politics, too, because that's the most important thing happening in all our lives these days, only we won't enjoy talking about it and will try quickly to move on to other topics, but that one will hover over us as it hovers over everything these days.

     …that I live in a beautiful little house on the mountain and have a car and can get gas and can drive to town to buy food that is abundant and good or to see a play in Ashland that enriches my life or to visit with friends, and what would I do if I didn't have that car and that gas and that means to see the people I love? Some of those people are Jewish and some are homosexual, and some of my family members are Jewish and some are dark-skinned, and I know illegal immigrants, and I myself am not WASP, though I guess I am WAS. And I'm not male.

     …that I have a job I enjoy, that uses my talents and gives me an opportunity to help other people lead better lives by teaching them how to think critically, a skill which is so needed now, when people can't tell the difference between a factual statement and an opinion, and though we are all entitled to our own opinions, we need know how to determine when facts are false and how to recognize opinions that masquerade as facts. But maybe it's too late already.

    …that life is beautiful, nature is precious, and love and respect still abundant.