Giving Thanks

Thanks turkeys. Your gobble gobble sacrifice is delicious when not over cooked (which it wasn't this year!). Fun turkey fact: in Spanish the turkey says "Gordo, gordo" which means "Fatso, fatso." Essentially the turkeys are calling everybody fatties. Our turkey this year looked like it had a question and is politely raising it's hand. Maybe it just wanted to call us fatsos one last time.



I am so thankful for Ezra, my special amazing fantastic boy. He gives me such fulfillment and joy. I am really, really thankful that he still takes naps, too (this year he slept through Thanksgiving dinner).



Thanks be to good will and gentleness! This photo is from a little while ago, when Grandma found two stray kittens in the freezing cold outside. We brought them in and Ezra was on duty to snuggle the kittens to warm them up. He was really, really determined and did such a great job. His father attracts stray animals and nurses them back to health (in the two months we were in Guate we took in an abused iguana, an abandoned dog, a rejected duckling, an orphan kitten and a couple of birds that barely escaped certain death in a flood) so I guess that's where Ezra gets it from. I am learning from their kindness.



Also very thankful for family, grandparents especially at this point in my life. Seeing Ezra with Grandpa and Grandma is so so so so so wonderful, not to mention the aspect of crucial child care while I try to get out lives together. A million, trillion, cadjillion thanks! Oh and we (Ezra and I) are very thankful for books and the public library that keeps us exploring new literary territory every day.



Thanks be to pets! They always find the best spot.



So thankful for root vegetables! Potatoes, carrots, beets, turnips, sweet potatoes, so many that sustain us through the cold winter here in MN. A nice power mixer is also to be something to thankful for, as well as a mother who is expertly running it.



Thanks to fresh ground pepper! Mashed potatoes just aren't the same without you!



Thanks be to gravy!



Thanks be to my sister for always stirring the gravy, an arduous task that was left to me this year (I wasn't nearly as dedicated as she always was, I was too busy taking pictures of things I was thankful for for this post).



Vino!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sweet, sweet nectar.



Nature- thanks for continuing to replenish even in the face of human destruction and abuse, and for all the calm you provide in your quiet wisdom.



And lastly, plumbing. This probably should have been first on my list. I feel so fortunate to have water 24 hours a day, hot, cold, and in between to wash, bathe, and drink. Water is such an amazing luxury of life here in the US, and I am thankful and humbled by my access to it.