Thanksgiving Modern Style

Having taken American Indian Art last spring alongside my youngest son gave me a much better appreciation for what was going on with the Americans in the area.  America's native inhabitants in the Northeast were a thriving interconnected group of tribes that had forged peace, trade, and alliances amongst themselves before my ancestors arrived with their ideas of religious freedom and societal ideals.  This holiday, a celebration of our successful toe hold on the new continent, is widely celebrated throughout the United States (the exception being native people, who see this as the beginning of the end of their cultural and religious freedom), and is a time to reflect on one's blessings and give thanks.
So here goes, since my root stalk is the Puritans.  It has been a rough year for folks with values that include priorities like environmental protection, combating climate change, health care as a basic right, and just over all decency.  I am still unable to be anything but furious at the people who facilitated this regime.  I have definitely cut off ties because of it, and while it is hard, I am working on being at peace with it.  They may be good people but we don't share values.  Happy (mostly; still some very real anger) about working on that.
I am grateful for the time, to have been able to travel with family and friends and really enjoy things that I love.  I have gotten to do some things that are on my lifetime "To Do" list and that has been really nice.  The biggest change this year is that my spouse and I became grandparents, which has been a joyful thing that caught us both completely by surprise.  So here I stop, because it is hard to top that one.