Ten reasons I’m thankful this Thanksgiving Day

  • That we had a fatted lamb to slaughter. And we had ten friends with whom to share our meal.April Scrapbook 019
  • That I have spent another year on this planet without experiencing true want or hunger. I acknowledge that experience is an anomaly in human history.
  • That we still live in a global economy and good scotch is only a containership away. Hopefully the memories and skills to build clipper ships remain in the years to come.
  • That I had the help of Hannah and Caleb this year as we rebuilt fences on the farm. Without their help and younger backs I’d be further behind and the cattle would be roaming our valley.
  • That I had a chance to reconnect with my oldest sister these past five years. Now that she has passed away I am reminded once again of the fragility of our lifelines. Carpe Diem.
  • That I have lived in the epoch where antibiotics were discovered. A casual walk through the nearby church cemetery reminds one of the costs of their absence.
  • That a literate culture still thrives, that my library is well stocked, Wendell Berry lives and PG Wodehouse never died.
  • That my barn jacket, spattered with blood, cuffs ripped from barbed wire, reeking of honest sweat and manure from countless encounters…still keeps me warm after a dozen years.
  • That my family had the good sense to settle in Louisiana in the 1700’s. And, even if I left the motherland, the knowledge that everything begins with a roux is a good foundation in life.
  • And, that my partner is obsessive enough to bake bread, make yogurt and build cabinets and furniture in her spare time.

Everyone have a good Thanksgiving Day.

This Thanksgiving note is from the archives from last year. But the items listed remain consistently in the thankful column for this year.

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2 thoughts on “Ten reasons I’m thankful this Thanksgiving Day

  1. Dear Cousin,
    I have relished our reconnection and have found a renewed interest in reading (at least in audio format) since our local library has gone digital.
    Our family’s link to the very early history of Louisiana has always fascinated me. One of our multi great great forbearers was the first white physician west of the Mississippi in 1750. I have record of one of his sons purchasing land from the Atakapa indian tribe on the banks of the Vermillion River in Vermillion Parrish in 1805. Our Great Grandmother Lyons being born on a plantaion covering part of that tract and our Grandfather Roberts being Born in Geuydon (sic) not far from the same.
    Our Grandmother Roberts’ great aunt gave the land for the township of Jonesboro, LA in the early 1800’s…
    Even though I am adopted into this great Louisiana heritage I still claim it for my own, having no confirmation of my own natural lineage, any legitimate connection would do.
    On the other side, your Uncle Clay, my dad, has multi great great forbearers on his mother’s side which came over to the New World a few months after the landing of the Mayflower on a ship owned by the same company. So by such, I can lay claim to Pilgrim blood I reckon…Also, one of dad’s multi great great’s married according to his mother’s legend a full blood Choctaw woman, so I guess I also can lay claim to being a real American…
    It is a wonderful life with great family, great food and wonderful stories. Your recent post regarding the ‘fence pliers” was most moving, having many fond memories of sore backs and pinched fingers from close association with such a tool laying fence with your help around our land in the country.
    God Bless you, Dear Cousin Brian and Cindy, and God Bless America, My home.

    • Cousin,
      Good to hear from you this holiday season and my best to you and yours for the season. No doubt the Lyons were a colorful bunch: That little matter of the US Navy sending a warship on their behalf to Jean Lafitte’s hideout in Galveston Bay ranks as pretty high on the list of good stories to tell.

      BTW I got my first seed catalog of the season in the mail today.

      Cheers,

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