Thursday, November 27, 2008

What are you thankful for?

One thing I like about Thanksgiving is that you never have to worry about wishing someone a happy one. There are few religious or cultural considerations that can lay political-correctness mines. Almost everyone participates -- whether they take time to reflect on their blessings, spend the day watching football and gorging on food, or like my whack sister Lisa preparing for a post-turkey, pre-dawn Black Friday trip to the mall.

It's not a "happy holidays" holiday, but Happy Thanksgiving. That's cool, I think.

This week, my old LA Times colleague Steve Lopez -- the best newspaper columnist in the country -- spent an afternoon at Farmer's Market near the old M&M domicile in Los Angeles. He sat down with a cardboard sign asking "What are you thankful for?" and waited for customers.

The response made for a typically Lopez-esque stew of lyricism, emotion and humor. It's a great read.

One older gentleman said he was thankful for four things. Family. Health. "And I'm old, and I forgot the other two."

Me, I'm thankful for all the things I mentioned last year, plus a few more: our cool Pie in the Sky road trip; reconnection with more old friends in the past year, including Jason over at The Cooler; and the vast medical bureaucracy, without which I wouldn't have much to keep me busy during those long hours that Michelle's at work.

What are you thankful for?

"Happy holidays" to all of M&M-ville, regulars and lurkers alike.

3 comments:

Jason Bellamy said...

Among other things far more important, I'm thankful that I might be buying a Blu-ray player tomorrow. Just because.

And I'm thankful that I'm just over two weeks away from heading back to the Left Coast for the next holiday season!

And I'm thankful that the Civil War will be on TV this weekend ... even though I doubt it will end up like I'm hoping.

And I'm thankful that Mark is going to write a kickass 'poker in movies' piece for The Cooler at some point. Right, Mark? Right?

Janice said...

Thankful for a fun filled four day weekend. Turkey and the fixins on Thursday. Friday at Churchill Downs, won two exactas, and walked away up. Saturday at Andy's sister's place in horse country bike riding and another big dinner. Sunday playing board games (low tech for this crowd) and eating turkey gumbo and the leftover pumpkin cheesecake and little pies Judy and Jesse made for Thursday.

Auntie Babs said...

It's a week late for the traditional thanksgiving but. . . today's weather is so grand in Portland that I've been painting a table outside. The bright blue sky is great and it's sweater warm.