Emily Paine Carter

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Each Thanksgiving column has left me murmuring, "that's all ... a definitive list."

Combine such thinking with my skilled navigating from Joy to Despair with NASCAR-qualifying speed. And if 2007 were a high school "senior superlative" nominee, I'd vote it Most Challenging. Thanks for that?

Yet grace abounds. So here's "Round Five, Giving Thanks" for all blessings great and small, general and personal, in no particular order:

n The usual suspects: blessed family-and-friends.

n Your trust in sharing your stories. "Neighbors": the newspaper's serene oasis.

n Downtown communions of joy and grief, from merry parades to hand-holding memorials.

n Bubbles and balloons -- and the pure delight of giggling children.

n Lines tumbling from the mouths of babes. Say, granddaughter Addy, barely 3, stunned by her princess-bedecked self in the mirror: "Oh! I look like I came from my dreams!" Or grandson Lennon's "Bye-bye, doggy. Go have your day!": a philosophical 4-year-old, knowing that his own day will come.

n Fall, glorious fall! We were doomed, doomed to a dim display, yet Ma Nature pulled another round of improbable, brazen colors out of her, uh, autumnal bonnet. My favorite neighborhood maple tree is a party of burgundy-and-golden splattered leaves; did artist Jackson Pollock borrow such spotted splendor?

n Snacks.

n Live music and shows right here! Faithful fans and patrons. Local musicians (yes, bagpipers included), crafters and artists of all kinds -- even the "just-for-my-own-enjoyment" sort.

n Rescuers of heritage homes and endangered sites ... recycling.

n But especially resurrections of lives and spirits ... Each year adding more 12-step meetings than you can shake a stick at. (And thanks for copy editors who wrestle such syntax.)

n A traffic light for Salem's Thompson Memorial Boulevard/Cleveland Avenue intersection.

n Gardening ... houseplants ... the wonder, the magic of compost.

n Sidewalk chalk -- and all children's drawings ... a well-decorated refrigerator gallery.

n The Grandin Theatre ... and matinee discounts everywhere.

n Reconciliation ... peace descending like sparkling fairy-dust -- on both the forgiven and the forgiver.

n Fire pits and camping and campfires -- and stories told around them.

n Warm memories, warm, furry pets, warm blankets on a cold night. Extra thanks if you're snuggling your sweetheart, your "someone to tell the truth to" -- as ol' philosopher Joan Rivers put it.

n The Salem Municipal Golf Course ... for views and strolls and sledding, too.

n People shining daily with goodness, ministering, "walking the walk" of Light -- from places with or without steeples. (Still, I love a steepled skyline.)

n Stars above and starry eyes. And, aye, the Mill Mountain Star.

n Let's hear it for all our mountains! And while we're at it, the Roanoke River. And creeks! And all Mother Earth's treasures that our clodhopping carbon footprints have not yet stomped (sorry, Ma).

n That butterflies have wings and slugs still do not.

n And lightning bugs, forever! Dreams that the gently dancing lanterns will lure our children -- and oh, the grandchildren! -- back home. How can you rear children with no lightning bugs or leaves?

n Roads that take us away ... but also bring us home. ... Hope, always.

A continued Happy Thanksgiving! Now, doggies, go have your grateful day.