Days of Thanks IV

November is winding down. 
It snowed last weekend. 
My Christmas tree is up - right beside my Thanksgiving centerpiece. 
Transitions take time. 

The final installment of Days of Thanks:

November 22: I am thankful for the opportunity to eat entirely too much food with a family I adore. There is always enough for everyone, complete with leftovers to share. From two to eighty-two years, we don't go hungry. My heart breaks thinking about the folks that do. 

November 23: I am thankful for white Christmas lights. It seems silly, but there is a certain tranquility that comes with sitting in a room lit by the Christmas tree lights. And, to quote my friend Brady, "Is there a better feeling than untangling a ball of Christmas lights and all of them coming on? Doubtful."

November 24: I am thankful for Pricilla the Greens Fork postmaster. She is pleasant, happy and helpful. Without fail, she sincerely thanks me for the business. She also asks if Dixie has settled down at all. Now, if we could clone Pricilla and send her to the BMV, I wouldn't walk the line of expired plates. 

November 25: I am thankful that this blog gives me the opportunity to connect with folks I've never met. Thank you for reading. 

November 26: I am thankful for the people I found in Washington, DC. They are coworkers and strangers that turned into family. We explored, we worked late nights, we discussed, we worried, we celebrated, we camped, we cried and we kept a few social establishments in business. Most of all, we lived. 

November 27: I am thankful for the patient crew who collects the garbage on Maple Street. These men have seen me at my worst - like, really bad. And they never take the time to say things like, "Forget again?" or "You would have thought you'd have a schedule down by now" or "Rough night?". They both just stand there, watching me run down the frosted, broken steps, trying to corral Dixie in my bathrobe. I am thankful for these good, unassuming men. 

November 28: I am thankful for Chrissie Cartmell. In a world of crazy schedules, transitions and change, Chrissie is - without fail - the first Christmas I card I receive annually. It just isn't the holidays until I get that envelope with the sloppy (sorry, Cartmell) handwriting scribbled across the front. She kicks off my holidays - starting in November!