Thanksgiving, 2012

     What'm I thankful for?

     I'm thankful for those members of my family who are still around; increasingly, the ones I'm most closely related to aren't, but some few remain.

     I'm thankful for all those who stand between their homes and war's desolation, as the song has it.  And I'm mindful that the soldiers do not chose their wars; so I suppose I must be thankful that our politicians are no more bloodthirsty than they are, while wishing they were less so -- and fewer.

     I'm thankful for cats, especially ones who have shared some of their time with me -- for my big sister's Bobsey-Gray, for old Tom, for Baby and Brother and Sisser and Ralph, for Rachael and the many black cats: Missy, her offspring: Tommy, Emily, Janie, Charlotte and the next generation: Fraze and Swarf, Warp and Woof, Puff, Emily Jr., Timothy and The Slinker; for the ferals Mama, Whitey, Baby, Holstein, the White-Tipped Cat (the latter two, exceptionally brave and loyal toms) and for the most recent cats, Mittens, Random Numbers and Huck.  Only the last two are still around but I remember all of them.

     I'm thankful for friends, both in-person and online.

     And I'm darned thankful this autumn cold is finally fading.  It's been miserable -- poor Tam, a day or so behind me in the progression, is just at the worst part.