Stuck at home with a lousy cold since before Christmas, I’ve had lots of time to contemplate things for which I am grateful:
My grandson, who headed off to Marine boot camp in September 2021, finally got some leave and is home for the holidays. I haven’t seen him yet because I don’t want to risk making him sick, but he’s home safe and sound, relaxing with his mom, dad, and sister just a mile from here.
Through several days of record-setting subzero cold, I was here, safe and warm. My one-year-old furnace worked flawlessly, my open cabinets and dripping faucets prevented any frozen pipes, and I had no compelling reason to leave home. I had power to run the gas furnace. I had water to drink and drip. I had food to eat. I had a roof over my head. So many across the country — or the world — lack some or all of these things.
I’ve been grateful all year that I am not one of the many homeless (“unhoused”) people trying to survive on America’s streets. Job losses, skyrocketing housing costs, inflation … so many people living on the edge, or slipping into the abyss.
A complex series of events involving dead batteries in several family cars required my 11-year-old Subaru to sit outside during those bitterly cold days and I feared its battery would be dead when I finally had to run an errand. Normally it would have been in the garage plugged into a battery tender. But it started right up and for several blocks I patted it on its dashboard and told it out loud how appreciative I was. Yeah, silly old woman here.
I’ve watched news about the incredible snowfall in Buffalo, NY, and thanked the stars that I no longer live in upstate New York. (I was there for about three years.) I didn’t live in Buffalo but in Oswego, on the shore of Lake Ontario, and just the normal winter there was more snow than I ever want to see again. Unlike Denver, where most snow is gone within a day or two, in Oswego it stuck around and accumulated all winter.
The unbelievable scenes of Southwest Airlines travelers stuck in airports for days at a time have convinced me that I never want to fly again, especially during holidays and certainly not on Southwest. In past years I might have been one of those passengers instead of just watching them on tv. Meanwhile, Southwest’s reputation is in the toilet and its management should probably be sued out of existence. Class action, anyone?
I watched Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s address to the US Congress and thought over and over again how much I respect and admire him, and how lucky I am that fortune didn’t put me in Ukraine this year. The US could certainly use a leader as selfless and dedicated to our country’s welfare as Zelenskyy is to his. Slava Ukraini!
.After a year of mourning, uncertainty, and loneliness, I finally found and adopted an almost perfect (so far) rescue dog a month ago. Perhaps at my age (79) I shouldn’t have. And perhaps I shouldn’t have picked a dog big enough to knock me over (but I wanted a dog, not a yappy ankle-biter). I feel extremely lucky to have found Charlie. (Belated kudos and much appreciation to Mile High Labrador Retriever Mission.)
I’m grateful yet again for home delivery services and drivers. I needed groceries, and they were there. I needed more cough syrup, and they were there. And I’m grateful to have found a place that still had cough syrup! (Amazon Fresh, surprisingly.) Cold and flu meds are scarce around here.
Most of all, of course, I’m just grateful to be here.
love your expressions of gratitude and seeing the big picture and I’m happy that you and Charlie found each other
That’s one thing about all the bad news (if you’re a newshound, you’re automatically a doomscroller these days, like it or not). It makes you appreciate how much better off you are than those in the news.
What Beth says, Susan: you remind me to stop whingeing and start thanking. You’re a good woman, and I greatly enjoy your blog, so don’t stop posting !! 😀
Aww, gee, thanks.
There is so much to be grateful for if we just pay attention. I hope you feel better soon but it sounds like you – and Charlie – are warm and safe and well-stocked.
That we are. Basically just vegging until spring rolls around.
Heard this Southwest Pilot ( some labor guy or otherwise Sky King type) on CNN or MSNBC blame it all on management not upgrading a computer system that schedules crews to arrive at airports when needed. But fight cancelations numbering more than 300 in one day across the country just locks that system down. Stranding all crews. No crews, no friendly skies. Said he’d been on’ em, honchos on the ground, to replace that antique computational device for at least five years.
Get rid of the cold. Stay out of snow. Say hi to your buddy. And a wonderful write today by the way.
Yep, been hearing the same reports all week. Southwest systems hopelessly outdated, unions been calling for improvement since 2016, etc. Southwest was always a good bet flying out of Denver. No more. They brought it on themselves.
It’s been about a week for the cold, so I’m looking for improvement soon. It’s snowing right now so I’ll be staying home. I’ll tell Charlie you said hi. And thanks for the compliment.
I totally agree on the gratitude, Susan. The news has become so efficient at reporting all the bad things that it is easy to overlook the good. As for SouthWest, I heard one report that a major problem is the lack of a hub system such as used by all the others. The effect is that delays at one airport affects all the others downstream in the schedule.
I saw one report explaining the difference between Southwest’s system and all the other airlines, complete with diagrams. I didn’t entirely grasp Southwest’s system but on paper it looked a lot more complex than the hub system used by everyone else. Seems to me this entire fiasco (and it’s not the first time) should give them a clue about changing how they operate. Maybe Pete Buttigieg can “encourage” them to change their ways.
In addition to everything you’re thankful for, I’m thankful for Pied Type.
Why, thank you very much, sir.