Thankfulness and Gratitude

Thanksgiving Day (in the United States) dawned here in Alaska with pinks and salmons in the east, promising sunny skies, at least for the morning.

Alpenglow lit the mountains to the north of our home, causing the snow to take on a rosy peach gleam above a mist-shrouded valley.

One of the aspects of winter I find I can truly appreciate and enjoy are the late sunrises, so I began my day with thanksgiving. And coffee.

Once I had coffee in hand, I dared to check the outside temperature. With the slight brightening of the new day, it was already easy to see the frost clinging tenaciously to every surface, so I wasn’t surprised to read 11F on the thermostat. Brrr!

Viewed from indoors, there was a fairyland quality to the dawn hour, tree limbs sparkling with crystals and the first brave little birds already darting to the bird feeders. I found myself humming one of the tunes from Disney’s “Enchanted” as I watched chickadees swoop and dance.

I caught the last half of the Thanksgiving Day parade on TV, awed as usual by the Radio City Rockettes. Their precision never fails to amaze me as I think about how hard they work to achieve such perfection.

Sufficiently charged with caffeine, I managed 20 minutes on my stationary bike as Ronni and I watched the National Dog Show following the parade.

Being disappointed in the dog show’s choices of “Best in Show”, and having viewed more morning TV than I’d generally watch in a week, I turned the set off and settled in for a couple of hours of quiet spinning on my wheel.

Especially in the winter, I am grateful for my fiber-related hobbies. Between spinning, creating fiber batts on my drum-carder and knitting, I seldom find myself bored. I’m spinning up some brightly dyed pink yarn for one of my friends today. This should keep me awake until Thanksgiving dinner is served!

Little Miss Rhonda usually keeps me company while I work on my fiber projects, but today, she’s splitting her attention between me and the smell of turkey cooking downstairs. Yum!

She has ventured out onto the icy deck several times already today in search of the ever-elusive, dastardly squirrel.

I’ve adjusted one of her longer scent work leashes so she has exactly 12’ of freedom to scramble and chase, with me staying in the relative warmth of the partially closed sliding glass door – without risk of her squeezing under a deck rail and falling two stories down.

Ronni might consider it worth the risk if she could catch the squirrel mid-leap, but I assuredly do not. The longer leash seems a workable compromise.

I am more than grateful for our two ever-entertaining, loving little attention and heat-seeking missiles. Whether it’s a warm lap, a space heater or a bed by the wood stove, one always knows where to find a dachshund in the winter.

Well, it’s 4:00 pm, the sun is almost gone for the day and even I can now smell the turkey. Jerry must have just opened the oven door to baste the nice, juicy turkey breast he has baking.

So I’ll finish up by saying I am grateful today for a husband who enjoys putting together a holiday meal for the two of us (the dogs would say the four of us, but that’s mostly wishful thinking), even if it means watching his favorite TV shows at full volume.

Here’s hoping he’s willing to turn the volume down at dinner time. 😉 Meanwhile, I can barely hear it from fiber central (aka the bedroom).

Tomorrow, I’ll head to the Menard Center to walk off my Thanksgiving dinner – and be grateful for the ability to do that!

I’m lifting my glass of eggnog to you all right now, because on this special November day, I am thankful for each of you, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!