Happy Gratitude Day

Thanksgiving has become as twisted as Christmas, thanks to so much baggage that comes along with it.
What do I mean? Think about it. Christmas has been buried under the shopping frenzy and marketing so dear to our capitalist hearts. In fact, the union where I work actually negotiated away a holiday to get Black Friday off so they could shop with the other bargain hunters. But they work Christmas Eve. Huh.
Then there's Thanksgiving. It's supposed to memorialize gratitude and cooperation, but too often it's about families medicating themselves by their favorite method to get through a day with folks that drive them nuts. It's an obligation.
The Native American aspect to this? Forget it.
And how about the turkeys? Some day for them, those poor, engineered creatures who cannot even walk properly because they've been bred to have plentiful breast muscle.
So I've had it with Thanksgiving. But I do believe there's a place for Gratitude Day and that's what I am celebrating.
I am grateful that I live in a place where I see sunsets like the one I photographed and shared with you here.
I am immensely grateful for the wonderful, exasperating, brilliant, neurotic, kind and hilarious man I live with.
I am unimaginably grateful for my son and daughter, who have been the greatest joys, the biggest worries, the most fun and the dearest people in my lives since they first decided to visit this planet.
I am grateful for the insane, stupid town where I grew up and now live again; a place where aging artists invite people to come to their home to dance as an aerobic workout, and where every party I've been to has introduced me to someone else I've decided I'm going to like forever.
I am grateful for the pets I've loved, the life I've lived and the experiences I've had - every single one of them.
I am grateful for the jobs I've loved and the jobs I've hated - they all were the right jobs at the right time for the right reason.
There is a lot more, but it's time to go get ready for the family gathering. And I'm grateful for them, too.
Happy Gratitude Day to all of you!

Happy Gratitude Day

This one's a challenge this year, but let me give it a shot:

I'm thankful for my guy - he's been a gift.

I'm thankful for my kids - they've become interesting and worthwhile human beings.

I'm thankful there are a growing number of people who won't eat meat today. I'm glad that I'm one of them

I'm grateful for my health, though I take it for granted.

I'm grateful for the people I've known, the friends I have and the ones I've lost touch with. I've had a rich life.

I'm grateful for opportunities - both ones I've pursued and ones that have dropped into my lap.

I'm thankful for the natural beauty I've been lucky enough to grow up in. I've seen a truly dark sky, heard nothing but birds and smelled nothing but pine needles. I've been underwater in a freshwater pond and stood under a waterfall. That, I know, is a gift.

Hope you all have something to be grateful for, too.