Scout watched with interest last night as I finished decorating the Christmas tree with ornaments from my travels. This is a fun tree because most of the ornaments come with a postcard featuring a vacation memory. It’s wonderful reliving my travels while looking forward to the holiday season.
For some reason, this is a fun tree for Scout too. While he simply naps beneath the other Christmas tree, he enjoys removing the ornaments from this one.
On the one hand, I’m glad he ignores the other one but would love to discuss with him why the decorations on this tree are so appealing.
If only cats could talk.
I fully expect to find ornaments all over the house tonight. He has a few favorites to knock down and bat around the room but he’s pleased to grab basically all of them if I turn my back!
I keep telling him he should be good because Santa Claws is coming to town but he thinks he’s already a purrfect angel and doesn’t understand the fuss!
When I sat down to write about Thanksgiving for today, I drew a blank. This has never happened to me. Past stories on this day have ranged from Norman Rockwell to how holidays are hard for those who have experienced loss.
When I did start to write, it quickly wound its way into something you don’t want to read and I shouldn’t publish. It started with the whitewashing of the first Thanksgiving story and meandered all the way into my scathing disapproval for how it’s more a day of national gluttony than a day of thanks.
I cut out all the juicy parts but you get the gist.
Except that isn’t what this blog is about and that isn’t why you’re here. Do me a favor though. Take a few minutes today to broaden your perspective and google “how indigenous people view Thanksgiving.”
Meanwhile, I am grateful today for my family and friends, for my little cat Scout and for the job that allows me to give him the lifestyle he believes he deserves. I’m grateful for my warm home, for fresh produce from the grocery store and and for all things in nature – even some of the creatures I don’t really like but that are vital to our ecosystem.
I am grateful for the ability to travel and adventure some and for having a camera on my phone so I can freeze time even when my good camera is at home.
I’m grateful for books and the authors who write them as well as for the small businesses across America that give our communities character. I am grateful for the wisdom to know when it’s appropriate to publish a diatribe on a national holiday and when it’s best to start again. I’m also grateful for a country where free speech allows me to decide that for myself.
I’m grateful for lots more things including all my readers – particularly those of you who leave comments or contact me privately to chat about that day’s story. I truly enjoy hearing from you even though I have been struggling to keep up my end of the conversation lately! Things will be calmer soon.
With that in mind, I would love to know something you’re grateful for this Thanksgiving. This isn’t a happy day for everyone, particularly those who have lost loved ones, but an exercise in gratitude makes the world seem brighter.
The grocery store two days before Thanksgiving typically isn’t a pleasant place. I stopped by my local grocery on the way home last night to pick up supplies for homemade fudge and some random things that I needed to piece together meals for the next couple of weeks.
It was dusk when I arrived and dark by the time I made it to the front door. You see, I’m from a small town so it isn’t uncommon to run into people you know at the store. I ended up deeply entrenched in a conversation about how to address a community need and left with a few notes jotted on the back of my grocery list so I would remember to do some research when I got home.
By the time I made it through the store and encountered acquaintances in about half the aisles, I had several bags of items and it was completely dark outside. As I pushed my cart through the automatic doors, a blast of cool air hit my face, reminding me that it won’t be long before I’ll need to start actually putting on my coat instead of letting it ride around in the car. There are people in my community who will go without decent coats and shoes this winter and I briefly wondered what resources there are for those folks right now.
I rounded the corner to find an Amish buggy just a couple of spaces down from my White Lightening. The horse snorted and sighed and I could see warm breath rise from its nostrils. These are unexpectedly pleasant sounds and sights at unexpected times.
Another buggy was entering the parking lot as I exited, making me wonder how many Amish neighbors we now have and if there are things we ought to be doing as a community to make things safer and more welcoming for them. Do they feel as welcome as I do?
As a community member, I think it’s important to participate and to be useful in whatever way you can. That could be through monetary donations, volunteerism, or just making others feel like they belong. Is there a need in your community? Maybe you have a lonely neighbor or your church has ways for you to get involved to give back. There are tons of local nonprofits, schools and other groups that badly need volunteers. Maybe you can just smile and say a kind word to strangers.
Community is what you make it. Gandhi told us to “be the change you want to see in the world.” If we all worked a little harder to contribute here and there, this world would be a much better place.
What do you suppose he’s thinking? Something tells me that he’s disappointed in me. I can’t imagine why but I suspect it has something to do with my insistence on leaving the house or perhaps my failure to provide enough tuna to suit his tastes.
These things are inherent, after all.
Whatever it is, I clearly need to do better because no little cat should have to live with such sorrow as his. Certainly a cat so beautiful, smart and regal as this one shouldn’t have to suffer the ignorance of a fool owner as he has done.
Someone call the ASPCA right away. Poor little cat is disappointment personified!
I recently tried to have lunch at Hounddog’s Pizza in Columbus, Ohio. A friend says they have the absolute best pizza around and they even have some good meatless options so my mouth was watering by the time we arrived. Tragically, they were closed when we were there so I’ll have to return another day.
Meanwhile, I did snap this photo in their parking lot. Anyone with a fabulous piece of art like this is worthy of a second trip!
