Thanksgiving

Yes pholks, we all need to be more thankful than we so often realize, especially in light of the past year or two.

Although there are at least some glimmers of economic recovery in the tunnel we seem to have been in, it's going to be a while until the light overcomes the darkness. I don't think the light we see is a train.

Even after our holiday feast, be it turkey, ham, noodles, rice, prime rib, hot dogs, scrambled eggs or whatever, the vast majority of us will still be cinching up our economic belts.

As I prepared to enjoy the holiday with family and friends, I just couldn't stop thinking about how much I really need to give thanks for things most of us hardly ever really take time to consider. The everyday things are what really count.

I still have a job and hopefully it will continue until I choose to hang it up. For that I'm thankful, considering how many people have lost their jobs, taken substantial pay cuts, lost their benefits, savings and had to give up their homes.

Locally, even the homeless have lost the homes they didn't have.

I'm thankful lots of pholks are concerned with the situation and mindful of the situation. That's a start.

I'm thankful for living in a country where I can say and do just about anything I want, as long as it's legal and doesn't harm anyone who doesn't deserve to be harmed. Too many of us forget those things. Heck pholks, I'm thankful for our leaders, most of them anyway, even though they seldom make more decisions I agree with than disagree with. I'm thankful I can spout off my thoughts about that at the Corner Café while I enjoy my coffee-hot chocolate (half and half) concoction made popular by Dale, the guy we teased so much about being in jail 'cause no one would throw bail. Dale, of course, never was in jail, but not showing up on schedule gave us reason to tease him for several weeks. Now, when I or another “regular” at the counter tells Charlotte, Gail, Karen, Debbie or Byron, “a Dale,” it's a done deal. That's just one more thing to be thankful for.

I'm thankful for getting my pickup back with a new engine after being grounded and having to rely on friends and co-workers to get around. Thankful for the financial rescue I received in getting back on my wheels.

I'm thankful for not yet contracting H1N1 and full of hope I won't. I give thanks for the overall health of my family and friends, and am ever mindful of those who have had to deal with health, financial and other issues. No one knows what tomorrow will bring, but we gotta be thankful for each tomorrow.

As a journalist for more than four decades, going on four-and-one-half, I'm thankful for seeing so many things, especially things I expected not to happen while I was on the job.

Heck, just last week I covered the groundbreaking for the Highway 198 project to create four-lanes between Visalia and Hanford, officially entitled the Hanford Expressway. I gave thanks that I actually got to observe the event, one which for at least a decade remained one of those “someday” promises. Now I'm pretty confident I have a good chance to be behind the wheel and feel safer on any trips I could make to Lemoore Golf Course or to catch Amtrak.

Anyhow pholks, if you read this before gathering around the holiday table, why not toss in a couple personal thoughts into your giving of thanks, even if it isn't out loud?

Just a little non-fattening food for thought is all I'm suggesting.