one thanksgiving it took my 6 hours to get through dc traffic, so i got this.

last year, thanksgiving was this.

this year, well, it will be a bit different.

i’ll be trading concrete garden sculptures for cactuses.

[or cacti. or whatever. they are the same thing and both mean more than one of those desert trees with the spikey needles.]

i’m trading south for west.

and i’m trading a whole bunch of other things for a whole bunch of other things.

i won’t be with the plethora of mckenzies and rankins this year and i wasn’t overly sad indifferent bummed about it until rightthisverysecond.

BUT.

i am still thankful.

thankful my family will all be together even if i can’t be with them, atop jet skis in the garage or seated in canoes in the back yard under the maple tree with a box of wine and a pit bull.

thankful that next year i will be.

thankful that when i return, the apple will have vomited christmas cheer all over the place.

thankful that tourist season and this “holiday embargo” which has just landed in my lap will only be in full swing for another 4.3 weeks and then us locals can take back a hold on our city.

thankful for the people in my life. and especially the ones who make it better. so so much better.

and thankful for the understanding that letting other people go from my life is simply a part of just that . . . of life.

so grab yourself a box of wine and a garden gnome this thanksgiving and go count your blessings.

i’m betting there are tons of them.

[blessings, that is. not gnomes and boxes of wines. but if you have tons of those, too, then by god you really are lucky.]