Thanksgiving

I wake up at a little past 5 to see my dog staring patiently at me. He wants to go for a walk but he’d been waiting for me to wake up. His tail wags when my eyes open.

The November morning air is crisp and clean in Willow Mount. The ATC Rd. where we normally go has Cliff Chrysanthemums greet the rising sun with shameless exuberance, competing with the soft pastels of morning glories, cosmos and some wild flowers I don’t know the names of, for the love of daylight. The red-and-honey marigolds carefully planted on the roadsides look on with graceful dignity. The dog and I collect our quota of wild hazelnuts against a backdrop of rolling hills washed golden green in the morning light, and we return home.

The family has woken up. There’s coffee and tea all around as the kitchen hums with activity for a 7:30 breakfast. The buzz is broken only for a short family prayer. Then, it’s all systems go again. The house is filled with daylight, the aroma of food prepared with love, and energy for a whole day ahead of good, honest work.

The drive to and through the city is always expected to have traffic jams. There are so many people and so many vehicles. Thankfully they do not honk. There are stories in all the faces I meet. Their hairs, their makeup, their clothes, their gestures, their expressions – all hiding a story, each one of them. This is fascinating. If all this is Maya and we are all One, have I been them in any version of my journey, and what must that have been like?

The office has more people, more stories. Some of the stories are in the pages I read, some in the Ethernet, some in the internet, some right outside my office door. There is a bustling street outside, bursting with life and at times what can only be described as polyphony. There is such life and vibrancy in the air.

November is a month associated with Thanksgiving. In that spirit, I have chosen today to think about all the things I have in my life to be thankful for. These things are personal and much of it is private and I have no desire at this moment to share more than my day till my daily commute to work at this point. 

I do however invite you to muse on it, too, should the spirit so move you.