By Mary Jo
Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday because of the warmth of friends and family gathering together around my table. People fill my kitchen, good naturedly dodging each other, cats lurk in hope of a bit of turkey, and there's a bounty of goodwill.
That's not happening this year because of the pandemic. 2020 is a lost year in so many ways. So many events, so many gatherings, so many concerts and vacations, have been cancelled.
To the left is my country oak table, bought from a consignment shop. It has about five different leaves that can be inserted, and I bought it specially for Thanksgiving since I usually host here. Not this year so no extra leaves, but I do love the table!
Someday we'll look back and say "wasn't 2020 a really strange year?" And friends will say, "Yes, I don't miss it at all!"
But despite all the downsides, the idea of giving thanks is still powerful. Though there will be no gathering around my oak table, I give profound thanks that the friends and family who would usually be here are all safe and healthy.
We did a Zoom call over dessert and coffee, which was fun, though talking over each other doesn't work on Zoom the way that it does in real life. <G> But I'm grateful to Zoom for allowing us to connect with each other. (The splendiferous pumpkin pie to the right was made by a friend who is usually a guest. Masked, we exchanged a couple of our Thanksgiving specialties with an elbow bump. If you could taste the pie, you'd know I get the best of the exchange. <G>)
I'm grateful for the internet in general, which has given me the chance to keep in touch with friends around the world
I'm grateful for the beauties of nature: sunsets, brilliant leaves, lingering flowers that aren't admitting that summer is over.
I'm grateful for all the front line medical people who have been risking their lives to care for us. I'm grateful for all the 'essential workers' doing hard, probably underpaid jobs to keep the wheels of society turning: sanitation workers, grocery store clerks, the wonderful people at my local post office. It's a little early for Tiny Tim, but "God bless you, everyone!"
I'm grateful for the Word Wenches, who live on three different continents, but can still chat and laugh and support each other through the vicissitudes of life and publishing.
I'm grateful for all of you who hang out with us here and make our lives more interesting and enjoyable.
I'm grateful for my five rescue cats, all very individual and with deep senses of entitlement.
I'm grateful that I've worked at home of decades, so the lockdowns haven't weighed as heavily on me as on many others.
I'm grateful for having so many books to read and reread: I'm into rereading comfort reads these days.
I'm grateful for seeing the picture of this amazing Mexican Ocelated Turkey on the internet today! It's found mainly in the Yucatan, and doesn't it look like its daddy was a peacock? Just looking at it makes me smile. <G> I hope it does the same for you. (Photo by Tony Castro from Wikipedia.)
The list of things to be grateful for could go on and on.
What are you grateful for? Even in difficult times, just about everyone has some things to be grateful for. I hope you have many things for which you can give thanks
Mary Jo