Noon. A garlic-flavored mouth from the leftovers I just ate. I’m in one of those perfectly comfortable moods, where all the environmental factors are just right. Full belly, rested mind, nice temperature, clean skin, all things combined to make me feel just right… porridge ain’t too hot, bed’s just the right size.
Tomorrow (today, in blog-land) is Thanksgiving, and, much to my chagrin, we will not be spending the day in the way I’d ideally spend it. I love Thanksgiving because it’s unabashedly lazy, it revels in laziness. You wake up early, eat early, take a nap, eat dessert… and later on hit the leftovers for second round. Most of the day is spent with family, either around the table, watching football, or nodding off wherever is comfortable. But no, not us, not this Thanksgiving. We’re leaving almost right after the meal to drive two hours north to visit friends. As much as I want to see these friends, I really wish we could’ve found a better time/day to do it. I’m not at all looking forward to the drive or the unaccustomed “rush” of what is normally one of the more decadently loafish holidays. Whatever, at least we’re on vacation.
Fast-forward – Thanksgiving. What a unique holiday. I mean, in gradeschool you learn about the feast shared by the pilgrims and indians, the crop’s bounty and God’s grace and whatnot. So as you get older I guess it turns more into something about “what you’re thankful for.” I still like to think about the pilgrims and crap, mostly because I just like that old-timey stuff. But, I guess it is worth something to sit and reflect on the things you have and should be thankful for. Take for instance our drive to Jacksonville right now, we just passed an huge billboard on the road that said “Thank Jesus for Governor Jeb Bush and President George Bush.” Honest. A whole billboard. So in the spirit of advertising what we’re thankful for, I’ll give it a go.
I’m thankful for a sense of humor. I’m thankful for friends. I’m thankful for family. For money. For my wife. For fresh air and warm sun and blue sky. For good music played loud. For naps. For the ability to rewind and pause live TV. For my job, which is pretty much the same thing as money… it’s a means to an end. For free time. For cholesterol medicine. For baby powder. For flip-flops. For free MP3s. For time alone. For time alone with my wife. For wordy fantasy novels and my pipe. For Halloween and Christmas, you can have Flag Day. For soldiers and sailors and pilots and a superior military. For close mountains. For simple things. For sarcasm. For dandruff shampoo and contact lenses. For cold weather and clouds and rain and days inside. For ten fingers and ten toes and all five senses.
Oh, and if you think I made up that “thank Jesus for Bush” billboard as a nice segue into the meat-paragraph… you’re wrong, it was real. In fact, a few miles before that we pass one that read “Evolution: A fairy tale… for adults,” and pointed curious passers-by to www.godisthecreator.com, or something like that. Religion in the south is an awesome thing, a powerful thing, a completely ingrained thing. It’s fascinating, and somehow welcoming or comforting. Errybody here got the Spirit y’all, errybody got the Lord in they heart – and it’s kinda nice.
Happy Thanksgiving all. Dave out.
Also written on this day...
- Happy Thanksgiving - 2010
- two black eyes - 2009
- busted - 2003
- my page is racist - 2003