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Thursday, November 23, 2023

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends! I hope today gives us each a chance to reflect on the things we're grateful for in our lives! Family, friends, shelter from the elements, food on our tables, love in our hearts, and prayers (as well as action!) for the less fortunate. The First Thanksgiving was a combined effort by Native Americans and Immigrants to give thanks for surviving and thriving along the harsh Northeast area, and that gratitude has permeated throughout the centuries to remain celebrated every November. Unfortunately, we seem to have too many divisions among us these days to have a concerted Thanksgiving effort, but hopefully those divisions will soon fade into the background and we'll once again celebrate an America where different cultures, beliefs, skin colors, religions, and various orientations will come together in the great melting pot/salad that is the United States of America, still the greatest country in the world.

Today I am thankful for my family. They have made me the man I am today, in one fashion or another, and although I can't be with them today due to the flu residing among them this week, my heart and my spirit is with them. I am thankful for Steve, for even though we've had our ups and downs, he is my heart and will always come first with me. We've been together for 17 years, through thick and thin, through breakups and heartaches, through war and peace, and we've yet to fall completely apart. I am thankful for my friends, for although I don't hang out with them like I should, they are my family as well. Curt, Jimmy, Shane, Blaise, Cathy, Brian, Connor, they mean the world to me. And a new (to me) friend, Ian, who is just the sweetest guy I've ever met. I am thankful for him as well. I am thankful for my babies, Max my dog, Maggie my cat, and my parakeets, Whiskey and Rye. And my deceased babies, Midnight and Maverick, a sister/brother cat duo, Mathilda the chicken, Rascal and Scamp the rats, and so many more. I am thankful for my job, and especially my promotion, and the opportunity to do something that I love doing every day. I am thankful for my van, which (knock on wood) hasn't given me any issues, ever, other than a dead battery now and again. I am thankful for this blog, and the podcast that I occasionally do, and for everything that I have. I'm grateful for my house, for the food in my cupboards and refrigerator. And I am thankful to my Creator, whom I love above all and who loves me for who I am.

Now, we really should be grateful everyday for the things we have. It's silly only to be thankful one day out of the year for all that we have been given. We should treat every day as a day of Thanksgiving, thanking God above for having shelter, food, water, transportation, loved ones, for everything that we have. For when we aren't thankful for the things we have, when we don't appreciate those things, that's when they disappear and we soon learn how much we actually were grateful for them in our lives. As I'm writing this, I'm being mauled by Maggie, who thinks I should be paying attention to her rather than writing on my computer. And she's certainly not wrong, I should be spending more time with her and Max, and once I get this all set and posted, I'm going to do just that!

And that's my cue to pop off here and go spend some time with the babies. I leave you with images below. The first 6 are of Steve and myself, various places and various times. Next is an image I took of a young man when we were at Gulf Shores. I thought it turned out really good, although I maybe will do some further editing to it. The next 3 pics are of Curt way back when, then a much more recent pic of him where he's buffed up, and then a picture of Connor. Steve really likes this pic of Connor, as he looks so submissive in it. Next is a picture of the beautiful Ian, who is celebrating the holiday in Texas with his family. The next 3 are of Max and Maggie, and then one each of Whiskey (blue) and Rye (yellow). Next are the images of my deceased babies, 2 of Midnight, 3 of her brother, Maverick, three of Mathilda the Rescue Chicken, and then 2 of Rascal (black and white) and Scamp (cream and white), my two rats. I actually have had 3 rats, but the middle one, Pewter, turned out to have a terminal illness, so I had to put him down (I actually had Steve do it) before I'd had him very long at all. The next 2 pictures are close-ups of a bumblebee that was flitting around some chrysanthemums I had 13 years ago, my first fall at the house. And then the last 5 are just some Thanksgiving images from Pexels, the fifth being just a nice cozy couple taking a nap after eating their fill on Thanksgiving (using our imaginations here lol).

Ok, so there we go! I hope everyone had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving and found lots of things to be thankful for! Have a great rest of your day!

George