Columnists
The earth is good to me
It’s Sunday. I’m writing this column. The last of our Thanksgiving guests have just departed. The house is quiet, once again. I am thankful for the chaos. I am thankful for the quiet. It’s been much more than a decade since I wrote my first column for The Times. I am grateful to Rick who asked me, twice, to write for the Wellington Times. I had no idea how writing a bi-weekly column was going to work for me. Rick seemed confident. I was a bit skeptical. The very first column I wrote for the Times was entitled, Big Boxes Rock My Sock-es. I drew my inspiration for the column from a road trip to Napanee with my good friend, Susan. I figured if it got published, good. If I was asked to write another column, even better. If people liked what I wrote, the best. I am grateful for the good, the better and the best. It isn’t always easy to come up with an idea for a column, and I’m grateful for all of the inspiration from my family, my friends and this community. The quiet of our post-Thanksgivingcrowded house helps get the creative juices flowing.
So, here I am, with LOML, being all grateful and thankful. It is Thanksgiving Weekend, after all, right? Like I mentioned, our family was here for a couple of days of food, fun and music. After the last hugs and kisses were given, LOML and I spent the about three hours telling each other how grateful and thankful we are to have all of our immediate family living in the province and close enough to visit for a long weekend. We tell each other this because we’ve spent those last three hours putting sheets, towels and table linens through the wash. We tell each other how thankful we are because we think we’ve found every piece of crippling Lego, every well-worn storybook, every Super Heroes comic book, every notso- magic marker, every Archie graphic novel and every Matchbox car, then put all of those things back where they belong in the playroom. And, for the time being, we are grateful we can just close the door on the playroom and deal with that madness on another day, when we’ve found our energy once again. As we pass each other in the front hall we told each other how happy and thankful we are because we’ve just sorted out all of the Thanksgiving leftovers for either the fridge, the freezer or the composter. We’re thankful as we wash the last of the beer and wine glasses, put all of the bottles and cans in the appropriate recycling bins and then shuffle/re-shelve the festive remainders of the contents of the fridge. We talk about how happy we are to have such lovely children and the most beautiful grandchildren as we do a second reconnaissance mission around the living room, the dining room and the playroom looking for Hallowe’en treat wrappers, empty juice glasses, pick-up sticks, playing cards and hot chocolate mugs. Not surprisingly, we find one more piece of Lego, three small “Paw-trol” socks, a knitted pumpkin hat, an elaborate hair doodle, a sparkly pen and a tinted lip gloss.
Does it sound as if we’re not grateful and thankful? That couldn’t be further from the truth. We are overwhelmed with the love and gratitude we have for our family, and for our friends. It’s hard for us to believe our great, good fortune. We never once, in our earlier days, thought our lives could be so full of fun, noise, music, love and magic. While LOML and I sort out the last of the laundry, we laughingly say we may switch from the calamity of nine adults milling around the kitchen with only one oven to reheat five casserole-sized dishes that need different temperatures, we talk about switching to serving a massive, festive lasagna or ordering a bunch of pizzas for our next family gathering. Or, heck, go all the way and tell all of the kids to bring a bagged lunch and we’ll supply the drinks and desserts. I’m sure it wouldn’t be as much fun as the delicately orchestrated hubbub we invite each holiday. As this beautiful weekend winds down, I am reminded of a thankfulness song I learned when I was a Girl Guide. (Yes, I freaking was a Girl Guide. And, if you’d seen my campfire during that torrential downpour in September you’d know my Girl Guide powers.)
“Oh the earth is good to me. And so I thank the earth. For the sun and the rain and the appleseed. The earth is good to me.”
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