Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving today.  We will.  Pam is cooking, Judi is bringing pies, and Earl and our friend Bill will be here.  I even bought a 30 pack of Genny.

I'm really looking forward to today.  I have so much to be thankful for, being alive one of them.  According to Dr. Carl, I came very close to not being here.  Getting slapped upside the head by a "widow maker" tree makes one appreciate everything just a bit more.

The only thing missing from our Bleecker Mountain Thanksgiving will be football, since we don't have cable or satellite TV.  However, I ordered The Best of Andy Williams Christmas Shows from Netflix, so all of us old farts can enjoy some nostalgic holiday music.

Yes, I begin Christmas on Thanksgiving.  That's probably from spending so many decades in retail, including running my own computer store.  I absolutely refuse to start Christmas before Thanksgiving, back then and now.

While sitting here at the table, Pam on her iPad and I on the laptop, Pam noticed something in the red pepper.  I took the top off and pulled it out.  It's a package of red pepper.  It's labeled "McCormick 1/2 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper (optional)".  I'm not sure what to make of this, but I'm pretty sure that it wasn't supposed to be in there.  It makes me wonder what else we'll find.

Pam wanted to clean our Unabomber Cabin yesterday and summarily ordered me out of the house.  I brought my camera and snapped a few photos to show you some of the scenery along the way.

Beaver pond.

R&R Firewood, where I ordered a cord of firewood.

Bleecker's running water.  This is where we fill our drinking water jugs.

Passing by Bleecker town hall.  I love this view of the mountains on a clear day.

Another beautiful view.  I think that might be Gore Mountain way off in the distance.

Yesterday, I became aware of Carl, a guy I've known for many years through the wonders of Al Gore's internets, who will be spending Thanksgiving alone, eating hot dogs and drinking Busch beer.  His wife passed away a few years ago.  Except for his mom, Carl is pretty much alone.  We are political adversaries and dice it up quite a bit on an internet message board.  But as soon as I found out he was spending Thanksgiving alone, I invited him to spend it with us.  We wouldn't even discuss politics, I offered.  He declined, saying that he really didn't do holidays anymore and preferred his solitude.   

How sad is that.  Thanksgiving and Christmas are two of the most important days of the year to me.  It is when I reflect on my life, on what I've done and who I've done it with.  I'll recall past holidays with friends and family no longer with us, remembering the laughter, the joy, and the love.  I'll enjoy the moment, enjoy the company of who I'm with.

I'm saddened to think that there are Carls who no longer have that joy, nor want it.  I'm also saddened by the local family whose young daughter passed away due to a heart condition just a few days ago.  There will be no joy in their holiday this year, nor for years to come.

I wish you joy this Thanksgiving, and for the upcoming holiday season.  I don't care if you're spending it with family, or with strangers at a senior center, take a moment to be thankful for your life and those lives that you've impacted, and be thankful for those who have influenced your own life.  Be grateful for what you have, for what you've been given, and for what you can give, no matter how large or how small.

Happy Thanksgiving to the love of my life, Pamela.  I'm so grateful we found each other.  Happy Thanksgiving to my daughter Becky, her husband Rick, and to my ex-wife Jahnn who will all be spending Thanksgiving with my crazy cousins Dan, Maureen, Erin, and Tom and their spouses and kids.  

And finally, a big thank you to Abraham Lincoln, who declared that Thanksgiving be set aside as a special holiday 150 years ago, while the nation was embroiled in a terrible civil war.  It is hard to imagine living in a time of war and hardship, and yet pausing to give thanks for what they had.  Abraham was an amazing guy.  Thanks, Abe.