I trust you are all turkeyed out at this point with a little less room in the trousers post-Thanksgiving.
Hopefully, you got together with those you love for good food and good times.
As this is the most obvious occasion of the year for gratitude, I got thinking about some of the less obvious things we may have to be thankful for.
This isn’t a list about gratitude for family, friends, a home or pets because those just go without saying.
This gratitude list is for some other things we can appreciate even though the holiday is over.
1. I am grateful for the person at the dinner table who did not count the number of scoops of mashed potatoes I ate and overlooked the gravy I slopped on my shirt. People who overlook mistakes are the best people. Bless them!
2. I am grateful for salt. It may be my favourite food group. It makes every single meal taste better. It makes even the most bland vegetable come to life. It makes me happy. A table without a salt shaker is an empty slab of wood with dishes on top. Spare me your fancy spices — just pass the salt. I didn’t say it was healthy. I just said I appreciate this white gold.
3. The colours of nature. Those multi-coloured trees just make any long, boring road trip into a gorgeous journey. (if you are driving then just peek out corner of your eye as the other motorists on the highway are nuts!)
4. Pumpkins. The odd shapes. The different shades. The sizes. What is great is that the weirder and wartier they are then the more special and this makes me wish we saw people the same way.
5.The smell of fallen leaves along with the memory of raking them and having your dog jump in them will forever be a great memory. I don’t know if bonfires of leaves are still allowed but that was a good smell, too.
6. Sunflowers. They are the happiest and tallest. I appreciate them.
7. Fall weather. As a heat-hating person, this is my season. I like days which require a light sweater and nights that require flannel and snuggling. I can appreciate snuggling in any season.
8. Good books. It isn’t too often I find a book that can suck me into another time or place but when I do — it is a gift. If you can read a book with some hot cocoa and a cat on your lap, then that is heaven.
9. A good sale. Show me a bargain and I’ll show you a happy girl. Shopping brings me joy. I don’t understand people who don’t like to shop. They clearly don’t know the right stores. I feel they need therapy. Retail therapy.
10. As we approach our federal election day, in Canada, perhaps the greatest gratitude should go to this beautiful country we have. I am ashamed to say I didn’t appreciate as much as I should have growing up. In the last couple of years (and watching CNN) I have come to realize how much better we have it than most anywhere else. I am going to fully appreciate the right I have to cast a ballot for the candidate of my choice.
I encourage you to write your own gratitude list. It’s a good reminder there is always more good out there than bad even if for the next three weeks you’re stuck with dried out turkey leftovers. Just add salt!
