Thanks

Many thanks to Dan Hull for writing a humbling review of this blog the other day. Thanks too to everyone out there who's linked to or said something nice about this little web project. (Thanks to Technorati, I know who you are!) Thanks to whoever invented blogging, for giving amateurs a chance to write and to connect with readers. Thanks to the readers for reading, and to the commenters for commenting.

Closer to home, I'm thankful for the progress that's been made around here since Thanksgiving 2005. A year ago, my wife and I were grateful to be reunited under our own blue-tarped roof. We had no refrigerator, just a big ice chest, which necessitated some adjustments in preparing Thanksgiving dinner. Mail service was sporadic; only first-class mail was delivered — about every third day or so. All over town — even the unflooded "sliver by the river" — businesses remained closed, due to storm damage, evacuated employees, or both. Today, we have a refrigerator, and the house's exterior is fully repaired and freshly painted. Just outside, traffic on Magazine Street is back to normal. Most businesses in the unflooded part of town are now re-opened. We still have some interior damage to repair, but meanwhile the house is comfortable.

We were going to celebrate Thanksgiving by cooking a real Thanksgiving dinner, which, after last year, would have been cause enough to celebrate. But a couple of days ago, some friends just down the street invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner, so we'll be going there instead, thankful to have friends like them.

I close by offering this meditation by the Big Man, a.k.a. The Kid From Brooklyn, contemplating Thanksgiving and a $15,000 bottle of wine. Enjoy.