Thanksgiving.

Different to the US date. So have a happy one as we forge into winter and remember all that was good in the spring and summer. And the harvest. I think we're due a harvest moon soon. Out here on The Edge, it signals oyster hunting. Best time apparently.

I am here to report that my health has shifted mightily into comfortable hemoglobin and iron levels. So thanksgiving abounds in my small world. A combination of some stomach pills and iron every day. Some healing has occurred or some restored balance. And as my GP says: you are one of the few we can definitely say has no cancer or ulcers. 

We continue on this path in spite of the diagnosis of diverticulitis - a not uncommon condition of us elders due to age-thinning of the linings of our nether regions. I am relieved and grateful for the incredible medical procedures and superb care I have. I am now awaiting a report on the right eye blindness which seems to have been caused by a small stroke during one of the procedures (stress). So I had an MRI on my neck ordered by the retinal specialist to see if there was a blockage.

So there you have it. The organ recital.

In other news, I was on CBC television and radio chatting about the impact of recent price hikes on seniors, plunging some into poverty and looking at foregoing their cars due to unbelievable gas prices. My activism, in light of my renewed energy, has been re-ignited.

I also received unexpected funding for a series of writing workshops which excites me no end. It's the process I love and not so much the end of the journey where, last time,  we had an anthology published and launched proper-like, with food and signings and reading and joy.

I'm on my way to Niece's to gorge on turkey with all the trimmings and celebrate much with her lovely family.

My gratitude list is enormous.

How about yours?

Thanksgiving.

It is also the season of Samhain in Irish Culture when the walls between the living and the dead are at their thinnest. I have been to some fine Samhain celebrations in my time. Some quite extraordinary and difficult to write about.

I am thankful for so much:

My family, both blood and chosen.
My wee apartment and its magnificent views.
My brain.
My mobility, limited though it can be.
My sight, unchanged in over 8 years.
My writing.
My photography.
My knitting.
My sobriety and all that it gives me in love and and support.
My activism.
My beach and my ocean.
My car.
My book club.
My beautiful city.
My blog mates.
My music.

The above is not in any particular order.

So next time I whine, be sure to remind me of this list.

So a splendid Samhain to all and a happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Thankful

One of my knitting hampers, I just love these colours.

 

 

Here on Canadian Thanksgiving I am thankful for my family. For my daughters, for my granddaughter. For my siblings who are all alive, though some of us are in slight disrepair. For extended family and bloodlines that span a goodly portion of our globe.

I am thankful for living in this wonderful land, my chosen land of many, many years. My gratitude knows no bounds for the life I've been given here amongst tolerance and equality far beyond the country of my birth.

I am thankful for a life that lets me breathe in the clean air from the ocean, that allows me my artistic expression - to write and create - and partake of the riches of land and sea.

I am thankful for dear friends who walk with me through thick and thin and celebrate my victories and hold my hand when I'm feeling defeated or lonely.

I am thankful for the comfort of blogland and my blessed blogfamily, where I get to throw out my thoughts and ideas (and dry run some stories and poems and photos) and sound off with occasional whingery and outrage.

So yes, today, along with all of the above - I celebrate our true north strong and free - thank you Canada.

Thanksgiving Weekend in Canada

Picture taken yesterday of the changing autumn tide.


Random & Very Partial Gratitude List.


(1) I’m vertical – this is always # 1 with me. The alternative has no appeal whatsoever. The rest of the list is random.
(2) Sobriety
(3) Abstinence from addictive foods.
(4) Being nicotine free.
(5) Writing.
(6) Where I live, the country, the province, the location.
(7) My daughters, my granddaughter.
(8) Ansa, the wonder dog.
(9) Money in the bank.
(10) Food in the larder.
(11) Long walks and hikes and climbs.
(12) New friends.
(13) Old friends.
(14) A car in my driveway.
(15) A fire to warm myself.
(16) Firewood and potatoes in the barn.
(17) Living in a decent democracy as long as we have Harper on a tight leash.
(18) Excellent universal health care.
(19) Beautiful clear cold well water.
(20) Enjoying my own company.
(21) Never being bored in my life.
(22) Books.
(23) Music.
(24) Movies.
(25) Theatre.
(26) Art.
(27) Knitting.
(28) Playing house. Finally.

Enough already!