Thanksgiving 2022

 

Thanksgiving is a national holiday for us today and every year. This morning I made a list of things I am thankful for, and it produced some thoughts. Is it my thanksgiving or ours? What is this day really about?

I have a good life to look back on or think about now. My personal thanks are from the past to the present, about life together with others, and about me as an individual. That is good. But also this day is a national holiday. As a child I learned in school or from society that some white people and some Indians got together and had a feast together as an act of supposed friendship at some time in our racist past. Maybe it happened; maybe not. Our history is full of mythology. Race issues continue to this day.

It appears now that a lot of people see Thanksgiving Day is a time to join together with family and friends to have a big dinner dominated by roast turkey and trimmings. We give thanks as we socialize. Then a lot of people say goodbye and look to the biggest shopping day of the year. The big turkey day is the beginning of buying and spending and worshiping the dollar.

My list of things to be thankful for begins with the ability to do and have all the things on the list; that is what we live with as Americans. I have a good education and I don’t have to go outside with my head and body covered as some women elsewhere do. I have the right to vote, which American women have had for only the last hundred years or so. I participate in Social Security and Medicare as an old person. The American system has given that to me.

Personally, I have much to thank God and others for. Here is the list I put together this morning as my act of appreciation for my good life. Some of it is individual and some about being together.  Thanks for being with others: friends; church; good loving parents, brothers, children and grandchildren; safe home environment in the city of Madison; and of course Pete, the number one man in my present life. Thanks also to Rick, my husband of 46 years of difficult times and good times.

Individually I have much to be thankful for. I have talents and abilities; a safe home in Madison; mostly good health; have not had Covid; food on the table. That is about me and thanksgiving. All my personal blessings come with the benefits of being with others. We don’t do it alone.

As I have said many times, we are all in this together. Happy Thanksgiving.

My Pal Clancy

 

Clancy was my buddy in childhood. This brown and white energetic springer spaniel loved me regardless of what I did. Even though he was a dog, he was my perfect companion.

Was he a good dog? I didn’t know, but he and I were good to each other. I loved watching him jump in the deep snow, gobble his dog food like there was no tomorrow, and run along on our many walks together. Hugging him was great except when he didn’t want to.  When I was unhappy about something, he would sit with me and let me hug him, seemly forever. I never had friends like that, and even if I had had companions to cry with, I would have gone to Clancy.

Our family took him when we moved from Lincolnwood to Sturgeon Bay. We all spent many days in summers at our cottage in the woods at Clark’s Lake. When we were driving there, Clancy always howled loudly in the back seat as we approached. He was as eager as we were. Once there, he got busy chasing rabbits and exploring.

At home in Sturgeon Bay, my parents were at work thirty hours a day at their new business. I thought Clancy and Omar might be lonely so I sat with them in our garage to keep them company. The two dogs dug holes under the back fence and we had to bring them back home many times.

When I was about ten years old and Clancy was older in dog years, he got sick with distemper and lost all his pep and lay listlessly on the floor. Then I spent a lot of time sitting with him and giving back. Clancy survived the illness but never again was his former energetic self. We loved each other anyway. He died later when I was studying at the university.

A good friend can be a dog. My life would not have been the same without Clancy.

Year End 2021

It was a year to remember. This is my annual report for 2021. Life has continued.

This year I achieved the status of Old Person with the arrival of my 80^th birthday. I enjoyed another year of longevity with Pete Weiler by my side. We are still a couple after five years, and still single. Pete is good, generous, helpful, enjoyable and a wonderful companion. Having him with me mattered greatly during a year of staying at home much of the time due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I stayed home a lot but still found things to do.

Pete and I played card and board games, watched streaming programs and videos, brought home plenty of carryout meals and went on a few short trips around the state. We saw some American Players Theater professional plays in person or online, and we visited Ten Chimneys, the home of actors Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. We traveled to Milwaukee and took in an immersive exhibit of Van Gogh paintings which were greatly enlarged and projected onto walls.

One highlight of the year was granddaughter Andrea’s wedding to Jed. Our families got together on Labor Day weekend in the great outdoors of Spring Green and enjoyed all the festivities. It was wonderful to have all my adult children there and see this great couple tie the knot. They are living and working in Madison.

A less pleasant occurrence was the break-in at my home in June while I was vacationing at Washington Island (more about the island later). Someone broke windows and entered my home. Daughter-in-law Sherry discovered a broken bedroom window when she came to water my outdoor plants. She and my son John found drawers emptied onto the floor, contacted the police, and then called me. I am thankful for my loving family. Fortunately, very little was taken and apart from two broken windows there was no vandalism. Most of my valuables, which are minimal anyway, were not taken. Whoever did it might have chosen to rob someone who actually had something to steal besides a lot of original artwork. The burglar didn’t even take the drawerful of my (deceased) mother’s jewelry. We never found out who broke in. 

I took several trips of Washington Island during the summer. My island home is the local campground. In addition to staying there I showed three of my colored pencil drawings at the island Art and Nature Center’s annual exhibit for the summer. One of the island visits was tent camping with daughter Dori and her husband Steve and their son Robbie. I am getting old for camping in tents, but it was fun and went well. The other times at the island included housing in a cabin on the campground. I love being there in the woods. Pete did not accompany me to the island. 

The pandemic lessened my volunteer activities during much of the year. The library reopened for in person service in September so I went back then and resumed my usual duties. The senior center arranged to have committee meetings on Zoom; I am honored to be on the Committee on Aging and the Senior Center Foundation board. We did some other gatherings online as part of my volunteer tasks for the senior center.  Giving back to the community by volunteering is important in my life.

We had a year of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, which I think of as a plague. A new President took office January 6 while protesters enacted a violent riot at the Capitol; we watched it with shock via television and the internet. Mass shootings ocurred in schools, shopping centers and even a Christmas parade. Businesses, churches, schools and workplaces closed their doors for much of the year while Covid raged and many people worked and studied at home via Zoom. Many have reopened with some requiring masks and vaccinations for participation. Wildfires consumed the American west. All these happenings contributed to my stresses and wondering where it all is going and what will happen next. That’s the news for the year.