Thanksgiving Thoughts, Who Says I Have To Be Grateful? Non-Fiction

I hereby institute the position of Thanksgiving Grinch.

The holiday forces us to ….

… enact certain behaviors. Eat a big meal with family.

… eat certain foods. A turkey.

… feel a certain way. Thankful.

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What if you live far from your family and do not have the time &/or money to go home?

What if you live near your family but don’t get along?

What if you don’t like turkey?

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What if you’ve had a terrible year and are not feeling grateful, thank you very much?

What if you’ve had a terrific year but object to being told how to feel by a greeting card?

What if being told to feel grateful immediately triggers feelings of guilt? Are you grateful? Are you grateful enough? Why aren’t you grateful? Be grateful d*mm*t.

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Maybe you have bad memories of Thanksgiving.

Maybe you have memories of bad things that happened around Thanksgiving.

Maybe you are from a country that does not have the tradition of everything coming to a halt on Thursday and you’d really rather just get on with your week.

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Bah, humbird!

Update. Additions

Maybe you are not of a mind to celebrate the arrival of Europeans in the Americas. (A more socially conscious person would have thought of this earlier.)

Per comments

What if you have good memories but you miss those times?

Thanksgiving ushers in the Christmas monster. What if you are one of over 30% of Americans who are not Christian?

What if your family is gone?

Bah, humbird!

Onwards!
Katherine

Patriot Pride, Vulcans on Parade, Photography

Photography of the outside world. “Although he spent only a few weeks of his life in the state, his Alabama photos represent Evans’s most famous and perhaps finest work.” Encyclopedia of Alabama: Walker Evans, Journey, 2008.

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Patriot Pride
Statue by Shawn Fitzwater
Patriot Park
Vulcans on Parade
October 2023

Technical Details

Head. f/13.0, 1/100 sec., 38.0 mm, ISO 100. Manual mode & auto-focus.

Post production. Cropped, resized, border, & watermark.

Linkfest

“Two @vulcansonparade statues I’ve painted are out on public display. “Forged in Fire” at @redmont_vodka and “Patriot Pride” at Patriot Park in West Homewood. Which team are you choosing?” Video clips, Instagram: @fitssignsmurals

Fitz Sign & Murals

Visit Vulcan: The Vulcans Community Awards Spotlight: Shawn Fitzwater, 2020.

Alabama News Center: Homewood mural delivers a masterpiece message. Crenshaw. 2020

Bham Wiki: Vulcans On Parade

Vulcan Park & Museum

Patriot Park in a previous post [Step By Step, State of the Fitness]

Previous Art by Fitzwater [Murals at the Birmingham Zoo]

Other Vulcans on Parade statues [Gallery, Views of Vulcan]

Onwards!
Katherine

Asking The Questions That Need To Be Asked, Dog Version, (don’t worry, the answers are good)

Awareness of the outside world. Covid booster. Monday, 13 November, UAB.

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On a regular basis, we look at our two senior dogs and ask.

Are you free of pain, physically & mentally?

Are you enjoying your activities of daily living, such as they are?

Are you eating with gusto?

If yes, all other questions are irrelevant. You do you.

Which is to say the ladies continue to get through their days. Jasmine can’t change locations without help. Rose can, but mostly doesn’t, other than coming into the kitchen to supervise at mealtimes.

Seems to work for them.

We worry. We question.

They continue to be fit, happy, and definitely enjoying their eats.

Rock on with your dog selves.

Jasmine & Rose posts [archive]

Onwards!
Katherine

Milton’s Morning Mosey

Awareness of the outside world. the bmj: Covid-19: Metformin reduces the risk of developing long term symptoms by 40%, study finds, Wise. Hat tip to Jon Singer. (Patreon: Jon Singer, join for free.)

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Milton hitched for morning work, hence the funky lighting. He is pulling both of us! I am in the role of a sack of potatoes, helping Milton with his weight training.

The second time, during the weekend, I drove! Granted I was six inches from my co-driver, but I was holding the lines. We are pretty sure Milton knew who was driving.

Onwards!
Katherine