31 Minutes of Thankfulness 2015 Edition

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

I hope everyone gets to celebrate with family and friends!

I have about 31 minutes before I start to prepare for our Thanksgiving.

So that's how much time I have to do my version of the 31 days of Thankfulness I see so many of my friends doing on the Facebook machine.

So here goes!

1)  I am thankful for Alison and Benjamin.  We have a wonderful family, and it so comforting to be loved and supported.  Benjamin is very smart, polite, and a great young thespian, and budding robotics engineer, and he is now a freshman in high school  Alison is beautiful and patient, practical and loving.

2) I am thankful for my two older boys, Douglas and Gregory.  Douglas is an environmental scientist in Atlanta.  Gregory is living the family dream, working in Hollywood in the movie industry.  I couldn't be prouder of both of them.  I am grateful that I got to see them earlier this week and that we could be there for each other, albeit under difficult circumstances.  I am thankful for the life and caring of their mother, Retta, and I mourn her passing with them.  Seeing what decent and caring young men my boys are, and the love that surrounded her in her hometown, did my heart good.

3) I am thankful for my loving parents.  My mother, who passed in October 2008, taught me the power of unconditional love.  My father, who passed in September 2013, taught me more about responsibility and hard work, and about the true meaning of Christianity, than anyone else I've ever known.  I think of them often and miss them terribly.  I am grateful for the love and memories they have given me.

4) I am thankful I have a loving, caring sister.  Carol and her family have always been supportive and kind to me.  She did so much for my father, I am so grateful. I am excited that she is now a Grandmother, and for the beautiful grand-niece I now have, with Bailey Margaret Burris.

5) I am thankful for my church family.  Grace Episcopal has been very important in the spiritual and social life of our family, and I am appreciative of the connections we have made and all the support and Christian fellowship they have given us.  Our open and free-wheeling adult Sunday School class, ably led by Alison's mother, Rose,  has been a special blessing. I am thankful for everything that REv. Kit Brinson has brought to our church, and it has been a joy to watch it grow, diversify, and become the hand and feet of Christ in our local community.

6) I am thankful for my work.  I'm not going to pretend that accounting is something I love to do.  But my employers and co-workers have made it to be as pleasant an experience as it can be.  And I love that I am "10% retired", in that I get non-tax season Fridays off.  It has helped give me the space to write more, and help me where I have finished two novels, History of the Trap and Crowley Stories: Swamp's Edge.  I have over a half million words on my blog, The Strait Line, and a newspaper column running in two papers.  I have also made a whopping $4.67 from an short available on Amazon.

7) I am thankful that I have the ability to act, at least well enough to participate in community theatre.  Getting onstage and feeling the response of the audience has been one of the great pleasures of my life. I am delighted that I have been able to participate in The Dairy of Anne Frank as Otto Frank and work with one of the finest young actresses in our area, Emily Beck as Anne Frank, and with my frinds Kimberly Beck and Julianna Lacefield.  Purlie Productions has brought socially relevant productions back to the area, and I am grateful to be part of it.  Thank you, Barbara Griffin, Lamar Deal, Jimmie Burke, and all those involves in bringing this about.

8) I am thankful to the Jeffords for all that have done to make the Flying Dragons Art Center such an important part of our area. I am grateful for so many other theatre friends, including the Becks, Barbara Griffin and Lamar Deal, Julianna Lacefield, Rhonda Powers, Melodye and Michael Lee, Robert Johnson, Mamie Kennedy, Mary Beth Kennedy, and so many, many more.

9) I am thankful for the Writers Guild and the Okefenokee Heritage Center. It has been a great joy to help form and support a group dedicated to the arts, and help local writers connect.  The second Okefenokee Writing Contest was a great success, and I am thankful to all who helped make it so. I am thankful for the support of Elizabeth Welch, who has done so much to manage, promote and grow the Guild. I am particularly grateful to Steve Bean, and the inspiration he gave me to start the Writer's Guild.  I mourn his passing, but I am grateful that he touched my and my family's lives. and that he was part of Grace Episcopal.  Everyone who knew him are so much better for having known him, and his spirit will live on with everyone he touched.

10) I am thankful that I have taken the time to develop this blog, The Strait Line.  It is named after a school newsletter my father had as school principal, and whether it is good or bad, it has been a tremendous joy to me to get back in the habit of writing.  I have made over a thousand blog entries, and my blog traffic has now achieved total page views approaching a quarter million. 

11)  I am thankful that Barack Obama is President of the United States.  There are many tremendous problems facing the world, and I cannot imagine how they would be handled had the opposition won.  With the 2014 Republican Senate takeover, life is much more difficult, but I am proud of the way he has stood his ground.

12) I am thankful that Obamacare has survived it's challenges and will become the law of the land.  Is it perfect?  Of course not!  But it is a vital step forward to universal health care and towards a more equitable, fiscally sound, and morally decent system.

13) I am thankful that at long last the gravest threat facing our planet, climate change/global warming will finally start to be addressed. Okay, this one may be more of a hope than a reality, but I am thankful for every single step we take in this direction.  The President is certainly trying his best.

14) I am thankful that even though the progressive agenda may not be moving as fast as I want, at least the promise of a better future holds.  Win, lose or draw, I am exptermely grateful for the run Bernie Sanders is making for the Presidency.  He is articulating many of the positions important to me, and at least forcing the media and Hillary Clinton to give these issues at least a passing though.  He is laying the groundwork for what I beleive and pray will be the Progressive majority takeover in 2020.

15) I am thankful that even in this radically conservative area, I still can seek out and find liberal friends to talk to.

16) I am thankful that I can read, and enjoy the pleasures of the printed page.  I know that some people laugh at my elaborate method of randomly picking new books to read, but it gives me great pleasure, and that is the most important part.

17) I am thankful for the DVR, that lets me watch the programs I want when I want to watch them.  And that I got to fast forward through most of the commercials.  I am also grateful for streaming, and the high speed internet that makes it so practical.

18) I am thankful for pets.  We have three wonderful dogs, Dachshund mixes who are loving and have long, waggy tails.  We also have a cat who is on rare occasion sweet, and we foster dogs for the Okefenokee Humane Society.  Recently, we found a home for Pedro/Peanut/P-Dog/Barton with good friends, and are currently fostering Johne Deere/JD, a friendly little dog that looks like a mix between a chihuahua and a fox.

19) I am thankful for movies.  I love storytelling of all kinds, and there is still nothing like going to the movie theatre.

20) I am thankful for continuing medical advances that help extend and improve the quality of life.

21) I am thankful that communities still come together sometimes to support neighbors in crisis, like with sick children, or suffering a fire, or other tragedy.

22) I am thankful for those friends I have discovered or reconnected with through Facebook.  I am most grateful to Benita Vierke Collins, for her friendship and her efforts at reconnecting the Bridgeport High School Class of 73, including such friends as Coleen Hitsman Anegon, Dona Bow Kilbourne, Paul Buckner, Lisa Whitehead and Linda Arnst Spayeth (who has been so supportive of my writing efforts).

23) I am thankful for the great joy comic books have brought to my life.  I have been a fan and collector since I have been 5 years old.

24) I am thankful for Christmas, and the opportunity to express such joy and love to others.

25) I am thankful for the peacemakers, all the diplomats and others who spend so much time and efforts to make the world a better place to live.  I pray that we give them the space to do what they can in Syria and other hotspots around the world.  I am thankful for the many Americans who have been willing to welcome the Syrian refugees and others in crisis.  You may not know form listening to the darkest politician of my age, donald Trump, or others echoing his bigoted and hateful sentiments, but there are still many Americans, of diverse faith and politics, who still care about people and remember that this is a NATION of immigrants and refugees.

26) I am thankful for first responders, who often put their lives on the line for us.

27)  I am thankful for ketchup, the condiment of the gods.

28)  I am thankful for Cherry Coke, the nectar of the gods.

29)  I am thankful for colder weather, so I can go out sometimes without having to worry about the gnats.

30) I am thankful for God, and for love.

31) I am thankful for Jesus Christ, who resides in my heart, and  urges me to love God, love my neighbors, and do everything I can to make this a better world.

Time's up!  On to Thanksgiving festivities!