Thanksgiving

I'm thankful that both my parents are alive and in relatively good health. Many of my friends have lost one or both of theirs.

I'm thankful that my whole family will be together today. We've endured some tragedy together but right now life is good.

I'm thankful to have a co-conspirator to share all the adventures with, big and small.

I'm thankful to have the smartest and most fun friends a person could imagine. Too many of them are far away but thanks to the Internet, we can still reach out once in a while, and friends I haven't seen in decades are poppping up again.

I'm thankful for the people who have shared their knowledge and expertise this past year. My birding guides, yoga teachers and work mentors have helped me grow personally and professionally.

I'm thankful to have a good job with some fine people. I have fewer co-irkers than I did a year ago. It's a tough time out there.

I'm thankful for my own health and physical ability to get out and do almost everything I want to.

I'm thankful for access to high quality food, clean water and clean air; being near so many woodlands and prairies where I can go to recharge my spirit; having a sturdy, warm home especially now that winter is here; hyphens and semicolons, my favorite punctuation marks; the Internet, my primary source of useful information and conduit to distant friends; orchids and aroids that bloom and even the ones that don't; warblers, Diet Coke with Lime, sushi, comfortable shoes and good books.