November 23, 2016

During this Thanksgiving weekend, I have been thinking a lot about human endurance.  I entered this Thanksgiving holiday not sure I felt thankful for much.  A tumultuous election season (anyone know of a word with more "u's" than tumultuous, by the way?); general displays of public ugliness and incivility, perhaps inspired by the election, perhaps not; enrollment concerns at work; little inspiration from the world of higher education to create blogs with new content; pathetic stretches of season for the Pirates and the Packers; and a dearth of good unread novels by my chair have all made me rather listless coming into this holiday season.

However, a slight rotation of my perspective even over the course of this one day can remind what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for my articulate, caring co-worker Heather Day and her brilliant blog about the importance of friendships.

As a result, I am thankful for the handful of friendships I have that have stood the test of time.  The kinds of friends who can openly laugh at me when I considered buying tickets for a Morrissey concert tonight in Detroit.

As a result, I am thankful I didn't purchase tickets for that Morrissey Detroit show.  The show was cancelled at the last minute (we probably would have already been on the road).  Given my son's passion for his music, we are already 1 for 4 in terms of seeing him when we have purchased tickets over the years.

As a result, I am thankful for a son who understood why buying tickets for a show on Thanksgiving Eve was a difficult scenario to manage.  

As a result, I am thankful Lincoln has broadened his musical horizons to like even more great rock and roll artists, almost all of whom (throw out Rage Against the Machine), he first discovered in his Dad's CD collections. 

I am thankful there are hundreds of great bands and artists he can still discover among that CD collection.

I am thankful for amazing songwriters, such as Tanya Donelly, who help provide perspective when one feels despair:

the doors of the church blow wide/and there's nothing but fear inside

the doors of the temple blow wide/and there's nothing but fear inside

the doors of the mosque blow wide/and there's nothing but fear inside

and it's not going to be alright.  (Kundalini Slide)

I am thankful for a good administrative assistant.  I'm in a transition between one moving onto another position and hiring a new one.  Here's hoping I have processed forms correctly. 

I am thankful