Thanksgiving 2007

Dayton, Ohio- It is a couple of minutes before 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning. I am the only one who is up and around this morning. I have been to McDonald's where I had a light breakfast and read about 1/3 of the Dayton Daily News. I drove about five or so miles each direction on Wilmington Pike just to sort of scout things out.

It is a cold rainy morning...... and outside it looks similar to how I feel inside. It has been a challenging time for me in many ways. I suppose it would just be best to sum it all up by saying that I am simply different from these people.

It would probably be best to list out some things that I am thankful for in this particular posting in this blog entry.........

• colorful fall leaves ---- this year the leaves are quite as bright as they have been some years, but... the leaves do seem to be hanging around longer than usual. There are some spectacular oranges and reds on this street.

• the boys --- for better or worse they seem to be doing ok. I think #2 scares me a little with his cultural adjustment to Southeast Ohio, but none the less.... he smiles... and seems pretty happy for the most part. Last night he showed me a photo of someone who has caught his eye. I believe he said she was from Youngstown. #1 is plodding along.... he seems to be much more focused about education than he was a year ago.

• having a good paying job --- seems odd I suppose since the job that I am thankful for usually causes me incredible stress...... and it is causing me to age and deteriorate at a pretty rapid rate.... never the less, it pays pretty well and I seem fairly well respected. My job(s) allow me to help my immediate family sort of enjoy life and living...... isn't that a blessing? I would definitely say so.... I look around and it doesn't take too long to see that I am blessed with a good paying job that others would like to have.

• my country --- seems like a simple enough thing to say, but.... genuinely.... despite all of the pitfalls, costs, and general criticism it takes these days..... I believe it is a great place to be a part of. I don't feel threatened...... I don't worry about being attacked...... The quality of most people's lives around me is certainly above average...... and line to get in is still far longer than the line to leave...... must be something going on here that is good to be a part of.

Well..... I am at a stalemate as to where to go from here....... I am certain that there are 1000's of other things I can probably go on to list, but these are the top ones...... Happy Thanksgiving.... to anyone who should happen to pass this way...... and I hope to be back around very soon....