Giving Thanks

First, something is seriously wrong with a Thanksgiving post that doesn't start off with props.  So here goes.  I'm thankful most of all for my happy, healthy, loving family, the wife that makes it happen, and the two boys that give it meaning.  I'm thankful for a mother who believes in me, was willing to make sacrifices so that I could have a chance at a better life, and has been a consistent source of advice and counsel throughout my life.  Whether I wanted it or not!  I'm thankful for friends that love me, challenge me, amuse me, and stick by me.  I'm thankful for having a good job, a comfortable life, and a safe neighborhood with good education opportunities for my kids.

Okay, that part is essential and heartfelt.   But the next part is a lot of fun.

I'm thankful for green chiles.  And bacon.

I'm thankful that I'm creative and have creative outlets.  I'm not the best musician, photographer, or writer in the world, but I deeply appreciate what I have and that I have the opportunity to exercise it.

I'm thankful for HDTV, surround sound, and home theater.  I have mixed feelings of thankfulness for subwoofers, which have simultaneously made the movie experience more impactful and transformed the kick drum into the featured instrument on too many knuckleheads' sound systems.

Yeah, I'll say it.  I'm thankful for Obama getting re-elected.  I get people's beef with him and the last four years, I really do.  But what I know of economics, government, and business convinces me that we would have been much worse off trying to trickle-down our way out of the recession with tax cuts.  I've never had an employer that said, "We're going to hire more people this year because our taxes went down."

I'm thankful for HDR, which has opened my eyes to photography as interpretation, rather than documentation.

I'm thankful that while nature as seen fit to erode a bit of the speed and memory of my mind, it has thoughtfully replaced it with a little bit of wisdom.

I'm thankful for Nikon (if only their customer service lived up to their products); PRS and G&L (proof that art and mass production are oddly not mutually exclusive); Ceriatone (high-end design, build, and tone for low-end budgets); and Korg (relentless innovation).

I'm thankful that I still have my hair and that I'm not too overweight despite so many holidays past.

I'm thankful that I was born into a situation that allowed me to grow up slowly, deal with the inherent unfairness of the world incrementally, and experience life as a pursuit rather than a burden.

I'm thankful that, although my life hasn't turned out as I imagined it, I have made some of my dreams come true and the ones that haven't were sometimes replaced with something better.