Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is still my favorite holiday, even though I'm disgusted by the fabricated story about the Indians and the Pilgrims that casts a pall over it. Coraline came home stuffed with tales of Squanto and the first Thanksgiving. We'll have to keep working on that. She thinks she has to believe everything she's taught in school. She does not get that from my side of the family. Anyway .... I like Thanksgiving because it follows Earth traditions for celebrating the harvest. And there are no gifts. And no religion too. And turkey dinner with leftovers.
I do hate the Christmas greed has usurped the day, but the most I can do about that is to not participate. And I don't. OK, we ate early because my son Drake had to go sell camping gear from 5:00-midnight today, but I'm not buying any shit at any shitty corporate-owned stores today or tomorrow. And I'll be working at a locally owned store that sells local products tomorrow, so that's my "fuck you" to corporate America and all the greedy fuckers who feed those pigs on turkey day.
And without even planning it, off I went on a rant. I did try to avoid politics today. I do not feel grateful for the political situation in the US right now, and I keep the protesters at Standing Rock in thoughts and heart.
Today I feel grateful for what I have right here at home. My family, always. (Although, honestly, they could have been a little more interesting. Not a Republican at my table today. Not one. We were so genial we were boring. I was tempted to go out and try to find one of those famous Republican uncles to invite over just so we'd have somebody to fight with.) My friends, who often love me in spite of myself. An old van that runs and is paid off. A big old house that keeps us warm and safe. A refrigerator full of food, and a bunch in the freezer too. My CSA was good to me this year. A couple of jobs that allow me to live my principles and get paid a little bit too. An autistic 90-pound poodle who keeps us safe and loves us in his own way. And my city, which offers me endless entertainment in the form of live music, theater, bike paths, funky little stores and markets .... I am blessed to have landed here. Thank you, US Air Force.
And a lot of other stuff. A lot. I need to remember that as this day for gratitude passes and all the other shit is still there on the other side. I need to remember to be grateful for those things that are closest to me, because it's to easy to let my perspective focus on the macroshit that too much Facebook brings into my life. It's important, all of it. So are hugs from a little girl and grabbing 15 minutes with a good book.
I hope you all had a peaceful Thanksgiving. And if not, I hope you threw the gravy boat at your Republican uncle so you have a great story to tell.
Love your rant and love this post. Keep doing what you do.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I've been enjoying your blog too. I'm looking forward to reading backwards, if that make sense. ;-)
DeleteOMIGAWD. Where did you get the Follow on feedly button? I loves me my feedly. Every blogger (that I like) needs this widget.
ReplyDeleteI used the directions here: http://feedly.com/factory.html
DeleteI use Feedly, but the only thing I don't like is that it doesn't update once you hit publish. So if you accidentally publish too early or you find a typo or you just want to add a note, those corrections won't ever show up on Feedly. I haven't figured out how to work around that, other than to put a jump in so people have to come to my blog to read.