For all these, I give thanks

I wish everyone a splendid, healthy, and healthful Thanksgiving. I thought that the simplest way to honor the holiday is to offer a list of things I am thankful for in my life. They are in no particular order, though I am rather fond of peanut butter.

• Peanut butter, chips and salsa, freshly baked bread, and morning coffee.

• Those who worked in the past to make a better future by protecting natural landscapes.

• Reading Social Q’s in the NYTimes with my wife.

• Barry Lopez, Charles Dickens, Ivan Doig, Brian Doyle, and Wallace Stegner, whose work continues to inspire and awe me.

• Learning about more diverse writers, who help me see the world through their eyes.

• Buildings with carved and sculpted terra cotta and stone faces and figures; 3.5 billion year old rock; or fossils the size of cinnamon rolls.

• Three-wheeled hand cycles that allow me to continue to ride with my friend Scott.

• The Unspeakables: good friends, good writers, and soulmates.

• Bad puns, low brow humor, not taking one’s self too seriously, and being silly.

• WTA’s Trail Reports, those who write the reports, and those who do trail work.

• Sunrises, sunsets, virga, hailstorms, salmon chowder fog, moonrise, frosty mornings, and cool evenings.

• My puffy vest, hiking poles, and new hiking boots.

• Small batch whiskey.

• Online, keyword searchable newspaper archives.

• Evolution for producing banana slugs, ammonites, Hallucigenia, giant sloths, terror birds, feathered dinosaurs, monotremes, and coffee, as well as millions of others totally cool organisms, and a few unpleasant ones.

• Flannel sheets, pajamas, and shirts.

• Talking regularly to my mom, hearing her laugh, and knowing she’s well.

• People who didn’t base their vote on fear, lies, and ignorance.

• My field notebook, mechanical pencil, and digital camera.

• Naps.

• Bald eagles calling from nearby trees in the morning.

• Walking barefoot on sandy beaches.

• A good book that carries me away to a new world.

• Libraries, museums, and local, independent bookstores.

• The end of the season of every professional sport.

• Bernini’s David, Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series, Albert Bierdstadt’s Puget Sound on the Coast, the Treasures gallery at London’s Natural History Museum, and the Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Flowers at the Harvard Museum of Natural History.  

• That my nieces and nephews have matured into interesting, thoughtful, and fun-to-be-around people.

• Breaking Away, Raising Arizona, Casablanca, Princess Bride, Hugo, the first 45 minutes or so of The Devil Wears Prada, the original Star Wars, and Foyle’s War.

• The Oxford English Dictionary.

• Duct tape, channel locks, and multi-head screwdrivers.

• Dog’s noses, soft ears, and insouciance about life.

• Recyling, composting, and second hand stores.

• Walking with friends, eating with friends, talking with friends, friends who call and write, friends anytime anywhere.

• Researchers who respond to my request for information and who let me go out in the field with them.

• Subscribers to my newsletter whose support, comments, and kind words continue to make writing these enjoyable.

• My wife, Marjorie, for the blessings of your calm, your humor, your willingness to put up with me, your friendship, your inspiration, your passion for whiskey, and about a gazillion other things that make me happy every day.