I'm out for a walk. It's Thanksgiving Day. I'm out for a walk on the road by my

parents house up above Canada Lake near in the Finger Lakes region of New York State.

The turkey is in the oven. The, some of the side dishes are prepared my sister will be bringing some more with her when she comes.

We have a couple of pies for after the family is gathering for this annual ritual of togetherness

and giving thanks.

Although it is not it is not so much a tradition in my family to give explicit

thanks. I'm thinking about the things that I have to be

thankful for, to be grateful for in this moment, in this fall in this year. Some of them are hard. My parents are still with us, but they're not with us in the same way that they used to be.

Their minds are not the sharp witty minds that they used to have.

They're frequently confused a little bit querulous what's happening what's happening now I don't

understand and I am grateful that they're still among the living, but I'm finding it hard to be grateful for their disease.

You know, they're not the people they were, and when I can accept that and stop railing about it, stop being frustrated and angry about it. I can have a much better time while I'm here

And is certainly true

I can still be sad. I can still not like it but if I accept it I can make the better of it.

I can accept that it's a cold day with a little bit of snow blowing in the air.

I'm outside, you know as I say walking on the road maybe you hear a little wind

maybe you hear my feet crunching in the gravel.

Maybe you hear a little stream running along beside the road.

These are all things that help to bring me into the moment. If I can be mindful of everything that's going on around me instead of thinking ahead, thinking back, thinking about what could be different, what could be better.

You know, I'm right here right now, and this cold gray November day with the wind and the snow has some beauty to it. What am I

grateful for this year? What is on this list that I started to write about a

week ago in a meeting of A to Z things that I'm grateful for.

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