I Am Thankful…

for the scent of turkey filling the house
for the chill temperature in the upper level of my house
for the dog I am dog sitting that keeps running up and down the stairs to check on the turkey for me
for the hot hot shower I didn’t have to speed through this morning
for airplanes that bring important people in and out of whatever town I find myself in
for coffee shops with baristas that know my regular order
for my regular order
for the ability to choose order over chaos
for the ability to revel in the chaos
for the bunny lounging in the dining room and waiting for its thanksgiving banana
for the smiles that come so easily these days
for the people who I love so dearly on nearly every continent
for the internet and cell phones that keep us in contact
for the written word
for the multnomah county library
for the written word and all the writers…even the ones I don’t care for…
for young men’s visions and old men’s dreams
for lyrics
for poetry
for the right to vote
for musicals
for mashed potatos
for lavendar scented freshly folded laundry
for pillowtop mattresses
for India (even when it doesn’t really know what it ought to do)
for the Word made flesh
for peace that passes understanding
for google maps
for the fact that every woman and girl looks beautiful in a Sari
for wall to wall carpeting
for unlimited in txting
for woodfloors
for a memory of sleeping on a heated Korean floor
that I didn’t kill James on that bus in China when I really really wanted to
that I know what it feels like to wake up on a roof top in West Africa because I swallowed a bug
that I don’t hate my job
that we always have Portland
that Portland is not only what it was, but now something very current as well
that there is a guitar in this house
that there are more opportunities than hours in a lifetime to pursue them
that I haven’t been bored in years
that lists exist
that families are expanding all around me
that rain is lightly pelting against my roof
that the people I love have so many things to be thankful for themselves
that I have a lot more than this for which I am thankful.