Giving Thanks

People and things I'm thankful for:

My brother, who makes me laugh and helps remind me that I do have history and connections in the world that matter. He makes me laugh, he makes me think, he helps me maintain perspective. He helps me bear in mind that our hobbies and eccentricities are what make us who we are. And he's by far hipper than me. ::grin::

My cousin E, my other most-important family connection.

Spanky and Merlin, my housemates, my buddies. They, too, make me laugh, make me feel loved, and help me remember that it's important to take care of others while I'm busy taking care of myself.

My circle of friends locally and all across the country, those I know in person and those I've met only virtually. To one degree or another, each of you has made a difference in my life that it's hard to calculate. You've extended my concept of family in ways I never imagined.

I'm thankful to have a job that helps me keep the roof over my head (and I'm thankful for that roof, which keeps the rain off my beautiful home), and lets me use my brains and abilities on a daily basis in a fairly creative way. I'm also thankful for smart, congenial coworkers.

I'm thankful for the two groups of people I see like clockwork every week: the Fairwood Writers and the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Chorus, who help me feed my creative soul and maintain a sense of humor about it in the process.

A good (if congested) Thanksgiving

Such a lovely idea: taking in the Thanksgiving buffet at the Woodland Park Zoo. The company was myself, the_monkey_king, shellyinseattle, writersweekend and loloc. The buffet was excellent, with all the Thanksgiving stalwarts: turkey, stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (and oh, were they good!), Waldorf salad. For dessert there were three kinds of pie; I had the apple. Then we strolled the zoo and visited many of my favorite spots. I adore the new jaguar enclosure and how beautifully and menacingly the jaguar walks his perimeter. Always fun to visit the gorillas, the komodo dragons and the lions.

And then there was the stop at Willawong Station. This is a relatively new enclosure at the zoo, where you can go in with a stick of millet and visit the parrots and related birds from Australia. If you stand still with your stick held out, the birds will come to you and have a snack, affording you the opportunity to examine and admire them up close and personal. I ended up hosting sometimes two birds at a time and just could not get enough. It was hard for me to leave when the time finally came.

It was at that point that we decided it was time to head out. I still had to make a stop to smash pennies at the newest machine in the park, so I headed in one direction while the_monkey_king and shellyinseattle, with whom I caught a ride to the event, retrieved the car. The new machine features four really quite fine designs: jaguar, komodo dragon, hippo, and the painted wolves (see my icon). I smashed two sets, one for myself and one to trade.

My plans for tomorrow include resting a bit—I've developed a terrible cold—and then making my way to Seattle Center, where I hear that there are new penny smashers at the Experience Music Project and the Science Fiction Museum. No holiday shopping for me tomorrow; braving the crowds isn't something I enjoy and in my weakened, cold-ridden state, I don't think I'm up to it.

So tonight I'm home. I've had some soup. And now I'm watching the Prairie Home Companion special on PBS. (Garrison Keillor really does have a face made for radio, doesn't he?) Don't know how long that'll last. I've promised myself a holiday viewing of The Wizard of Oz.

A happy holiday, all!