Happy Thanksgiving

 I won't be posting for the rest of this week, so I'll wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving today and see you again probably on Sunday.

Not Being Thankful

 Continuing to be thankful in trying times can be difficult. Of course, there is much I am thankful for--I and my entire immediate family are healthy; all those of an employable age are gainfully employed; my retirement income is sufficient to allow me to make a contribution to our wellbeing.

What makes it hard to be thankful? Well, the pandemic, naturally, as it constantly intrudes on our lives in various ways: Our children were unable to be with us on Thanksgiving and more than likely will not be here for Christmas, either; the many things we might otherwise do on a long weekend, such as attending a movie, are unavailable as well; the activities I thought would keep me busy and happy in retirement--chief among them community theater--are suspended as well.

The political situation also grates on me--and not just because our President is being his usual recalcitrant, obstreperous self. It's the feeling that a significant portion of the populace (possibly 40 percent or higher) not only refuse to accept reality, they insist that their view of things is the reality, and that we who see things through fact and science are the deluded ones.

On the other hand, I am thankful our courts--for the most part--know that they cannot be the thumb on the scale of democracy, no matter how much their political masters might wish them to be.

Be Thankful

 

A Turkey of a Holiday

 What are your plans for Thanksgiving? I can tell you what mine are--not much of anything. Our children are not coming home (sensibly), so Jill and I are planning a very small-scale dinner: a three-pound turkey breast, stuffing, side dishes, apple pie for desert.

I lost much interest in the parades (either the big one in New York or the local one in Philly) some years ago--and as the ones this year will be almost entirely artificial in nature (is it really a parade if you're just going to bring the floats, bands, balloons, etc. around a corner, show them on TV for a bit, then wheel them off around the next corner?), I have even less interest now. I have never been a football fan, so the afternoon and evening entertainment is not appealing either.

We'll probably find a movie or two to watch, read, maybe catch up with some friends on line. We have tentative plans to Zoom with the kids on Sunday at some point. I'm thinking of it all as practice for Christmas, which will probably go much the same way.