Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving






Some autumnal photos. I may have posted one or more of them before. Which thought will nag me until one of my faithful readers lets me know whether and when I did it. Which reminds me of how I don't have an adequate way of organizing my photos on my computer.

Any ideas out there?

I'm asking for help, people. How 'bout some love for a brother, huh?

And the photos aren't autumnal, are they? They're just photos of autumn leaves. Anyhoo...

I really like Thanksgiving. I'm in the kitchen now and, having peeled the potatoes, I'm sitting at the kitchen island, listening to Johnny Cash and other artists from my "happy music from a variety of genres" playlist, and chatting with my wife as she cuts onions and celery. It turns out she's not as fond of receiving instruction on cutting vegetables as I am of giving it. (But the thing is, a knife really isn't a saw. If it were, it'd be a saw. It should be used as a knife. Also paring knives have an important function, and using them on a chopping block ain't one of them. If it were, then it'd be a chopping knife. Wait....that doesn't work. Anyhoo, you've learned something valuable. You're welcome.) So we're chatting and she has no idea I'm blogging about her as we speak. Mostly she can't imagine this because she can't imagine me doing more than one thing at once.

Which is true. Ahh, but you see, I stop typing when I speak with her. Clever, no?

I think gratitude is a horribly underrated virtue, so here's a brief and incomplete list of things for which I'm grateful.

1. Air pumps for basketballs.
2. Anaesthesia.
3. Clean drinking water.
4. Fools who think it worth their while to write poetry.
5. Mount Ranier
6. Fresh dry socks.
7. Grocery stores with a ridiculous variety of food, including Dunkin Donuts' coffee.
8. Good buttermilk pancakes.
9. Cheap sunglasses
10. Good cutting knives (used properly)

I'm also really really really grateful for the usual suspects on lists such as this. You know. Mom, Dad, children, in-laws. My long-suffering and patient wife, who loves me for reasons I can't fathom but shouldn't try to guess. My sweet sweet friends, old and new, who know that to be with me is essentially the same as doing unpaid counselling work. People who are patient with me. People who aren't patient with me but who are good to (and for) me.

Here's a particular shout-out to someone I'm really grateful for. My sister--i.e., my daughter's fun and doting Aunt B. She's a great listener and a loving and giving kind person. I'm proud of her, and I'm grateful that's she's my sissy.

9 comments:

Steven Taylor said...

A Happy Thanksgiving to you and the family!

Elisheba said...

Happy being thankful for knives etc.

For organizing photos, as in all other aspects of life, Google is your friend. Have you tried their Picassa app? It will make your life easier and give them one more foothold in their quest to page rank our hearts and minds and rule the world.

There's an old Chinese myth that a god rebelled against the Emperor of Heaven, was defeated and executed, and every year the maple trees still turn red in memory of his rage and blood and pain. It's something to think about.

Technoprairie said...

I bet you're thankful that your sister doesn't live near so she won't come kill you over that picture.

Besides many of your items, I'm thankful for antibiotics.

Sometimes I just stand and wonder how in the world we got to live in a time and place where (if I desire) I can buy a kiwi fruit anytime of the year. Or a pineapple. Or a lemon. These grocery stores are amazingly wonderful.

And by the way, you are right about the knives. Paring knives aren't meant for the cutting board. Chef knives are the proper knife for a cutting board.

Mike Bailey said...

ST--

Right back atcha. I got to say, however, that my life would have been just as happy or happier without having watched the Palin video you posted.

Mike Bailey said...

s-s:

No, I haven't tried google. I may have to actually call you to figure out how to do that if it's not incredibly dumbed down for a dumbed down dummy like me to follow.

and about the Chinese myth, I agree. it's definitely something to think about. and not just at autum. that seems like a year-round-worthy thing to think about. i don't know exactly where my thoughts would lead while thinking about it, but it's worth thinking about.

yes. quite.

Mike Bailey said...

t-prairie:

you're probably right about b. but then again, she posed for it, right? and she knows I blog, right? so...it's basically her fault. practically begging me to post it.

the more important thing is that she rarely ever checks the blog, best i can tell.

antibiotics. oh yes. absolutely. right on there, techno-p!

oh, and i'll pass on what you've said to your sis about the knives. better coming from an "authority" than from the bozo husband.

Steven Taylor said...

mb:

Yes, well, knowledge can be a painful thing, my friend.

Anonymous said...

I really like these leaf ones. They look very fall like. Were they taken in the fall? They remind of me the fall. Also, but, who is that person with the wooden ball eyes? I don't understand that one or why it relates to the leaf ones. Actually I don't understand many of these but what can you do.

Mike Bailey said...

The leaf ones are pretty hard to understand. But Summer is an easy season, so that may explain that.

The connection between the photos? The wooden eyeballs came from trees, and the big puppet behind them is an ornament to the wood. Just like leaves are an ornament to a tree.

Duh.