Thanksgiving

Ah, it's time once again to celebrate our blessings by engaging in unrestrained consumption, sprinkled lightly with introspection and garnished with pie. It's time to be with loved ones, watch football, and listen to stories of how the pilgrims survived the homicidal rampages of the Great Pumpkin, etc.

Seriously, either things were REALLY crappy in England, or these folks were just plain crazy to risk a long and perilous ocean voyage to a place where locals might be hostile, and conditions may or may not allow their survival. They must've thought the potential benefits outweighed the costs. They must've believed that they could eventually transform the local environment/culture into something resembling their homeland, and could spread their language among the natives so they wouldn't have to learn new ways. In other words, they were setting an example for future Mexicans.

As for my own celebration of Thanksgiving, well, there's not much to tell. Therefore, I was going to offer a graphical quiz combining images from today with Thanksgiving holiday transitions, but I couldn't find the appropriate graphics (with the exception of the one shown above.) I was going for mashups like "Pumpkin Pilotes", "the Pilgrim Reaper", and "Cornucopiazadora", but those are tougher to illustrate than you might imagine.

Instead, I think I'll get serious for a moment and make a list of the top ten things I'm thankful for, other than the standard litany. It's obvious that I'm thankful for my family, my friends, my stunning good looks, and my comfortable running shoes. I would hope that everyone can also figure out that I'm grateful for my job, my swim team, my extensive stash of chocolate-coated foodstuffs, and my awesome guitar-playing skills. So, let's just assume that I'm thankful for all the normal things, and I'll provide a short list of things that may not be on everyone's list. In addition to the standard items, I am hugely thankful for:

• Not being rich. I'm glad I don't have to deal with the feelings of guilt over not paying my fair share of taxes.


• Debit cards with overdraft protection


• Chipotle


• Netflix


• Ongoing efforts to commercialize spaceflight


• Diagnostic reasoning


• William Shatner


• BodyGlide


• Swim goggles (but not the anti-fog coating that doesn't work worth beans)


• Anyone who has ever honorably served in the US Military


• Antiperspirant deodorant


• Scientists

There's more of course. But I'll save that for later. (By the way, the picture at the top is "Aunt Mayflower". Happy Thanksgiving!