Thankfulness Weekend

Well, we're all back at it after a long, beautiful, relaxing and fun Thanksgiving weekend, and that's always hard. This Monday was a little harder than most because I started it off by dropping my phone in water. With all the gorgeous Thanksgiving weekend photos on it - that weren't backed up. Ugh. So, I'm starting fresh to kick off the holiday season ... again.

We had one of the hands-down best Thanksgiving meals together with friends at Hatchet Hall. The restaurant was closed for the holiday, so we had free reign of the place.

Every counter surface was taken up by the pot luck dishes all our friends brought, and as you looked around, all you could think was ABUNDANCE. And THANK YOU.

From Lacey's Mom's unreal corn dish and perfect mashed potatoes to David's foie gras gravy (yes, FOIE GRAS GRAVY!) to Brian's perfect turkey, and Vavine's roasted apples ...

 ... one morsel was more delicious than the next. It was truly an embarrassment of riches.

I threw down on the pies, as usual, and even managed to get myself a slice this year! Not a whole lot of meals can beat Thanksgiving if you're an American, but even with all of the ridiculous piles of mouth watering food, the story of the day was still all about gratitude, and being thankful for all that we have. Like, we talked about it. And meant it.

That gratefulness carried over all weekend, as most of the people I know chose to opt out of the Black Friday disgusting mayhem, and opt OUTSIDE. R.E.I. kind of kicked off that sentiment by being closed that day for their employees to have a day to get outside, and we fully took that to heart.

Last year we got out of dodge on Black Friday, and headed for Yosemite, which was glorious. We didn't have the same luxury of time this year, so settled for Saddle Peak in Malibu, which isn't really settling. Our hike to the summit was rewarded by majestic 360 views, but even better was the surprise deer couple that bounded right by us (and of course that awesome photo is now gone forever). A stunning O.P. looking sunset was the icing on top, and the perfect location and visual for mindful gratitude.

The rest of the weekend was almost all outside, except movies, and for watching our Vikings take over first place in our division yesterday (!), capping off a wonderful, idyllic weekend of family, friendship, and fun.

I hope yours was all of that good stuff too - sans the phone casualties. And now, here we go! Off to the races toward the end of the year, all set with a new phone and tons of room for new photos, videos, stories and excellent messages ... let's get going!

HAPPY Holiday Season to us all!

*Photos kindly donated by Paul Gronner and Steve Taschler.

A Thanksgiving Prayer

This has been a hard year for a lot of people, in a lot of ways. It has also been an incredibly beautiful year for a lot of people, in a whole lot of ways. Every moment has the potential to be hard or beautiful, and much of that is how you view and act on it. I love so much that all Americans take at least the one day of Thanksgiving to do exactly that ... give enormous thanks, with all the gratitude we have in our hearts, even if that's just a little.

e.e. cummings wrote a Thanksgiving prayer long ago, and I'll share it with you now in its entirety. For this very best American holiday, that's the very best we can do - SHARE.

i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth
day of life and love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

‡

“next to of course god america i
love you land of the pilgrims’ and so forth oh
say can you see by the dawn’s early my
country ’tis of centuries come and go
and are no more what of it we should worry
in every language even deafanddumb
thy sons acclaim your glorious name by gorry
by jingo by gee by gosh by gum
why talk of beauty what could be more beaut-
iful than these heroic happy dead
who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter
they did not stop to think they died instead
then shall the voice of liberty be mute?”

He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water

‡

when god lets my body be
From each brave eye shall sprout a tree fruit that dangles therefrom
the purpled world will dance upon
Between my lips which did sing
a rose shall beget the spring
that maidens whom passion wastes
will lay between their little breasts
My strong fingers beneath the snow
Into strenuous birds shall go
my love walking in the grass
their wings will touch with her face
and all the while shall my heart be
With the bulge and nuzzle of the sea

‡

when god decided to invent
everything he took one
breath bigger than a circustent
and everything began

when man determined to destroy
himself he picked the was
of shall and finding only why
smashed it into because

‡

love is more thicker than forget
more thinner than recall
more seldom than a wave is wet
more frequent than to fail

it is most mad and moonly
and less it shall unbe
than all the sea which only
is deeper than the sea

love is less always than to win
less never than alive
less bigger than the least begin
less littler than forgive

it is most sane and sunly
and more it cannot die
than all the sky which only
is higher than the sky

‡

love is the every only god

who spoke this earth so glad and big
even a thing all small and sad
man,may his mighty briefness dig

for love beginning means return
seas who could sing so deep and strong

one queerying wave will whitely yearn
from each last shore and home come young

so truly perfectly the skies
by merciful love whispered were,
completes its brightness with your eyes

any illimitable star

Happy Thanksgiving! God bless us EVERYONE.

*Photo (with no filter) was taken during one of my most grateful moments of the year. Just happy to be witnessing that splendor ... Ahhh.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought,
and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.
 

- Gilbert Keith Chesterton

How true is that? This has been an intense year for so many people. I've had the highest highs and the lowest lows, and everything in between ... but when we take the time to reflect about it all, the fact is, we're all such fortunate, blessed people to even take another breath every day. Add all the beauty, kindness, wonder, adventure and JOY that is possible in every moment and the only feeling that makes sense is gratitude. And gratitude is our glory, a sage guru beach woman said to me one day, out of the blue. I've never forgotten it, and try to carry that truth in my heart every day.

HAPPY Thanksgiving to you and yours ... I'm thankful for each and every one of you.