Friday, November 20, 2009
Gratefulness for things great and small
One week when the roses displayed no black spots. — Emily Paine Carter, special to So Salem
Emily Paine Carter is columnist So Salem. You can contact her at 981-3430 or via e-mail.
Emily Paine Carter
Recent columns from Salem, Glenvar and western Roanoke County
Thanksgiving again?! OK, y'all: Act grateful.
"Act?" Pretend? Like obeying a photographer's command to smile?
Around many a holiday table, guests will be asked "for-what-are-you-grateful?" How would you reply? Some might mutter quickly: "Friends-and-family. Please pass the potatoes, amen and that's all-she-wrote."
Some count the past year's woes. They struggle with Gratitude.
Every Thanksgiving I try adding to this column's Mighty Gratitude List. Right, a whole LIST! It's like I'm facing some big ol' Standards-of-Learning exam of Life; will I have any thankful "answers" to fill in? Yikes!
But indeed I was able to jot a slew of notes. I'm grateful to add a new round of thanks-worthy items -- and to find my old lists still valid. (OK, minus my 2003 entry re: True Love.)
So, Giving Thanks for Blessings Great and Small, Continued:
n Happy coincidence. Today's grin: I awoke, thinking about having to write and "act grateful" on deadline. Then Kathleen Parker's op-ed line leapt from the newspaper: "To create on demand is a contradictory skill."
And I confess to the occasional shout-out to The Almighty ("Are we still speaking?"). Weird, amusing "signs" have followed: Is this "mere" coincidence? I'm just sayin'....
Hey, William Walsh's "Celebration of Popular Customs" (1897) gives a touch of mysterious timing to the Pilgrims' 1621 feast: "...ninety friendly red men appeared as if by magic," bringing venison to share.
n Celebrations! Weddings, especially.
n Divorce, too (alas) -- with considerably fewer festivities.
n When you quit throwing up.
n A break from political commercials and calls. (See "throwing up," above.)
n So far we're free from foreign overlords.
n Magazines with clip-worthy cartoons and stories.
n Wisdom (bonus points if learned from others).
n Aspirin.
n Sunglasses.
n Anesthesia.
n Sleep.
n Stretching; yoga.
n When your bowl's milk and cereal come out even.
n Forty years of "Sesame Street!"
n Quirky costumes (especially if homemade).
n A creaking, old-fashioned swing.
n Townsfolk at "Friday night lights" -- even without kids in school! And supporting other sports, academics, arts, etc.
n Someone complimenting your child. (But, says Mama, "Don't take credit, so you won't have to take the blame.")
n A child's memory of a small, sweet moment -- one you thought surely he'd forgotten (say, "we walked and ate a blueberry scone").
n Watching cats bathe -- and not having to do it for them.
n A rose-gardening week without the dreaded black spot.
n Promises kept.
n Hope (maybe I hear the pony I once coveted, and not the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse).
n And of course, re-emphasizing the beloved Usual Suspects: Family and friends!
Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!
