Thankful

Thanksgiving is drawing to a close, and I'm thankful. The turkey turned out perfectly, moist and flavorful. The gravy was silken smooth, the side dishes fantastic. It was a splendid meal, and my mother's cheesecake wasn't even cut until a couple of hours after dinner.

More importantly, we had fun all day. In the early afternoon, my brother and I were teaching his daughters how to throw a classic spiral pass with a Nerf football. Now, we're coaching them in a chess game. All day long, they were entertaining us with extemporaneous songs and funny stories. Tomorrow, they will put on a show of songs that they have been writing. They are lovely kids, smart, funny, and creative. As soon as I post this, it's back to the chess game.

I am thankful for my great family... even better, we'll all be together for Christmas. I'm also thankful for my friends, including my beloved readers.

I'm going to leave you with a story about a plan I've made with my nieces for next summer. There's a pond near there house, in which there lives a huge catfish, a big sucker who has already broken one fishing line. The catfish was dubbed "Big Ugly". Our plan for next summer is to catch Big Ugly and give it a makeover, starting by putting lipstick on its mouth. When we release the fish, it'll have to be called Big Pretty. Did I mention that they are gifted comediennes? I'm thankful for comedy too.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. Thanks for reading!