Today, I am thanking life, despite the stress it often presents, simply because I'm alive, well, and surrounded by love.

The nor'easterner brought more rain and slush than it brought ice and snow - and I am very thankful for that. Yesterday, I spent the majority of the day hibernating on my writing chair, trying to revise a book chapter that is extremely important to me. I am charging forth like the ram that I am, destined to empty the ocean with a fork. I didn't finish what I set out to do, but I did make progress, and for that I'm happy.

I'm also thankful for:

• my family, who loves me even when I don't pick up the phone, update them on my shenanigans, or keep them informed of what's going on in my world,
• Pam, who is laboring away so that tomorrow there will be a feast for me to eat with friends, her family, and a new puppy 
• my memories of Kentucky and all who were introduced to my world via the J. Graham Brown School, JCPS, and the Louisville Writing Project (especially Sue McV and Alice)
• for a professional community who has given me an outlet to do what it is I tend to always be doing,
• to the young men who shared their lives with me when I was a doctoral student and who continue to participate in my ongoing learning of global inequalities,
• to the teachers I've met since I became the Director of CWP-Fairfield and the colleagues I work with who model excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service,
• to the Reading and Language Arts Center who provided a location that challenged me to be a better scholar and thinker than I ever thought I could be, 
• for Chitunga, and the art of communication (including text messages) that helps us to better understand The Great Whatever and our relationship to it (and one another),
• for writers who have crafted the books I love to devour, digest, and share,
• for having shelter,
• for being an American at a particular point in global history - even with its hiccups and shortcomings, it continues to be the greatest civilization the Earth's ever known, and
• for today. I have today!

Every minute I spend in misery, I lose 60 seconds of happiness (and possibility)

Have a great Thanksgiving! I hope you are surrounded by the people that bring you the greatest joy. I hope today is full of the possibilities you desire.