November 25 – Thanksgiving

It is Thanksgiving eve, the day before my favorite holiday of the year. Thanksgiving, for the most part, stays focused on fellowship, spending time with friends and family while celebrating the bounty of the harvest. Tonight I’m thinking about gratitude and taking time to give thanks for what I have. An unusual Thanksgiving eve, I am preparing portions of our Thursday meal ahead of time because our power may be turned off tomorrow. High winds and low humidities equal a high fire risk in our part of the world. For safety, our power company has started turning off power in high wind areas in order to try and prevent fires. Which means we may be without power over the next couple of days.

An inconvenience and a possible reason to look for ways to be annoyed and ungrateful. Yet, I still preparing to give thanks l in spite of this interruption in our lives. We have ways to work around this. As I get older I appreciate the gifts of each day, even those that don’t seem that way at first.

Here are a few things I am grateful for this year

• The ability to prepare food ahead of time for our meal.
• Having a generator to help keep things running while the power is out
• A family that is healthy and in good spirits
• Family and good friends who care about me because of who I am and in spite of who I am.
• Life changes that are occurring that are likely to lead to good things in the future
• The ability and time to sit and be thankful for the people, events and opportunities that are currently in my life.
• For the life I am living, in the moment and with people I care about.

Pictures taken by J.T. Harpster.