Thanksgiving Day’s Top 10 Gratitude List

I am still getting over the fact that another year is coming to a close, but the recent Thanksgiving Day observance confirms that I am not dreaming. I try to plant gratitude seeds every day, but this is the official season for a gratitude post. So, this is my top 10 gratitude list from Thanksgiving Day:

  1. My five senses, so that I could see the beautiful faces of my loves as we gathered together, hear the cacophony of children laughing, football games on the television, silverware colliding with plates as the ravenous group savored the first bites of dinner, and snippets of conversation,  touch the warm hands holding mine as I said grace, smell the marriage of the various dishes as they cooked, and speak the pre-feast prayer of gratitude to God for past, present and future blessings.
  2. Given that our unit stopped working right before the holiday, central heat.
  3. Family and friends, those present and away.
  4. The extra sets of hands that made # 10 a reality.
  5. The sweet memories of loved ones who are no longer with us.
  6. Watching the g’children as they rush to catch bubbles before they pop or drift beyond their little hands.
  7. My staunch refusal to go shopping on the holiday (or the following day).
  8. Watching Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving with my g’daughter leaning against me.
  9. The laughter that ensued as everyone shared their favorite scenes from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase. (If you haven’t seen this hysterical movie, it is a Christmas must-see.)
  10. At the end of the day, a clean kitchen and not a dirty dish in sight.

There you have it. My Top 10 gratitude list. What about you? What’s on your “gratitude” list?

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Creative Writing Saturday

English: The view from Sgiach nam Tarmachan, i...

English: The view from Sgiach nam Tarmachan, into the Eastern Corrie close to the summit Taken as the weather closed in and before visibility closed down. The picture can’t capture the cold the wind or the driving icy snow. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Spellbound

The night is darkening round me,
The wild winds coldly blow;
But a tyrant spell has bound me
And I cannot, cannot go.

The giant trees are bending
Their bare boughs weighed with snow.
And the storm is fast descending,
And yet I cannot go.

Clouds beyond clouds above me,
Wastes beyond wastes below;
But nothing drear can move me;
I will not, cannot go. ~ Emily Brontë

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Happy Thanksgiving Day!

A collection of lit candles on ornate candlesticks

A collection of lit candles on ornate candlesticks (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am in the United States and I am already late. Today is Thanksgiving Day, a day set aside to show gratitude for all the blessings that we often overlook. Of course, gratitude is ideally served every day, and I try to do so. The day holds fond memories of past holidays with family and friends, some of whom have already passed, gathering to cook, eat, laugh, drink and be merry. Those events evoke feelings of love, happiness and togetherness, which is what I strive for today. For that reason, it is a very special day for me. Nevertheless, before I begin the frenetic tasks to prepare for the onslaught of family, I need to take a moment for a pithy, but, hopefully you’ll agree, meaningful post to you.

Without preamble, thank you. I am more grateful for you than I can put into words. I realize that you are a gift to me. You are a blogger’s manna from heaven. Based on Technorati’s world-wide blog post counter, which counts every blog post written, there are almost 2 million posts written today. (By the time that you read this post, the number will be much higher.) You’ve read that figure correctly. Now, that is a damn lot of posts. With that said, your choice of blogs to read is endless, and I deeply appreciate your presence here.

Whether you live in a place that celebrates the day or not, please know that I do not take you for granted. I appreciate you and I am thankful that you take moments out of your busy lives to share bits and pieces of mine. It is very humbling. So, wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I send you a sincere and warm thanksgiving, and I thank you for being.

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Quote Tuesday

colors

colors (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul. ~ Wassily Kandinsky