I’m thankful for The Wife and all the time that we have had together and all the time will have together.
I’m thankful for the Internet and Google and all that way cool stuff that is just a mouse click away.
So I’m also thankful for Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and all the countless technie nerds that made home computers and the junk that goes with them a reality.
I’m thankful for my job, even though I tend to view it as a necessary evil. It can be fun and I work with a great group of people.
I am thankful for cars in general, and my Dogde Grand Caravan in particular. It takes a real man to drive a mini-van, a real man like Dexter, and me. (I have to have one to haul all my photo equipment around, not the occasional dead body like Dex.)
I’m thankful for the invention of movable type and the immense joy of being able to read a book. I am thankful to Dear Old Mom for teaching me to love reading.
I’m thankful for Hot water and Cold air conditioning. Clean sheets and firm beds in motels. Lots of cable channels and the BBC online.
I’m thankful for Barbecue and Oysters and Ice Cream and Jello. I’m thankful for Dr Pepper and Stewart’s Sodas and milk shakes and Starbucks Frappacinos. And Slurpees, I really do like Slurpees, even though it is pretty much a kids drink.
Just stopping for a minute to be grateful, as Ask and It Is Given says, is something to be thankful for. I’m thankful to all the self-help authors that have given me hope, even though none of them have ever really helped me to become rich. Yet.
I’m thankful for The Beatles, For New Wave Music, for Disco and Rock&Roll. I’m thankful for Weird Al Yankavic and Enya and Tiny Tim and Brave Combo for daring to be different in a world where the same damned thing over and over again is so often rewarded. I’m thankful for Ballywood and Klesmer and The Blues.
I’m thankful for the Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy, for Hope and Crosby and Abbot and Costello.
I’m thankful for Gene Wilder and John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe.
I’m thankful for Ren Fairs and Wax Museums and Amusement Parks. I’m thankful for the London Dungeon and the Salem Witch Trail Museum. I’m thankful for the Grand Canyon and The Atlantic Ocean, The Pacific Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico.
In short, I find myself grateful for rather a lot of stuff. And that does seem to be the whole point of Thanksgiving. So be thankful yourself, as I like to say, It Could Be Worse.
