The Lightness of a Thankful Heart 28 November 2008

Crossposted at Dailykos.com

This has been a very interesting past few days. The drive from the Bluegrass country to here was dreadful, with rain and wind almost every step of the way. My right shoulder blade still is tense from it. But that is no matter.

I could not get to sleep tonight, and it is 9:00 AM Eastern whilst I compose this. Most of this post is just random obversations, but ones observed with gratitude and love. In no particular order are listed the things and people (mostly people) who are dear to me, any a few of the reasons why.

Mrs. Translator, the love of my life. To describe why would take several hundred posts, so I will not even try to do so. Let it be said that I do not deserve such as she is, and that she could do much better than to have chosen me. However, I resolve to do better by her. Her purity of heart and deep compassion, coupled with unconditional love for me is more than I could dream of as a gift of manna.

Eldest Son, with the soul of a poet and the mind of a scientist. He has good wit, and a kind word for everyone. His gentle strength is an inspiration. He also wrangles alligators (graduate school work, for science). What a guy!

Middle Son, with a bizarre sense of humor and keen intelligence. When he gets going, he is hard with which up to keep. One of these days all of you will see him on the TeeVee as a late night host. He is that good when he is in fine form.

Youngest Son, likely the most sensible one of us except for Mrs. Translator. Witty, smart, and extraordinarily energetic, he is thinking about going into culinary studies. As many of you know, I have the honor of hosting What’s for Dinner from time to time, so this is no surprise.

Mrs. Translator’s mum, the last surviving grandparent of the boys. She is getting feeble, but still was able to come and have dinner last night, and participate in the conversation that is even better than the food. She is as sharp as a tack, and can be really funny. I cherish her presence.

My parents, though both are now gone. Through them I learned things, both for good and for ill. You have to remember that my roots are in rural Arkansas, and their racist attitudes sort of made me think another way. On the other hand, I never saw either of them be cruel to anyone, but they had their own thoughts. I believe that this discontinuity between their thoughts and actions gave me cause to think about things. They were not evil, just products of their generation of poor white folks.

My grandmother on mum’s side. She lived to be 101 years old, and was a classic evangelical, except that she had a heart. Mrs. Translator and I both just about fell out of our chairs many years ago when she was visiting and some news item was on the TeeVee talking about gay issues. She said words to the effect of, “Well, if that’s the worst thang that them is doin’ I don’t thank that Jesus will hold it against ‘em.”

My granddad on my dad’s side. He was a character. He was in his eighties when he taught me to drink coffee and smoke Prince Albert cigarettes when I was five. What a guy! I was the only kid that he ever liked. Hit my profile for some stories about him.

My friends, both peer and their parents. I keep in touch with several that I have had since childhood. The parents are almost all gone now, but will live in my thoughts until I expire.

This community. I was in a very bad way at one time, and I think that the kind words and the expressions of support had a lot to do with me being alive to write this at present. There are no words to express my appreciation of this support. More than once have I been offensive, and still am welcomed. I strive to be better, and appreciate the forgiveness.

Now, for things other than people for which I am thankful.

Science. It shows us the way to a better understanding of the universe. It is not perfect, but the best that we have at present, and is continually refined. If not for it, we would be wearing animal skins and grunting instead of speaking.

Energy. I do not like to be cold, and fuel allows all of us not to be. I also like to go from place to place now and then, as do most of us. I really hope that we can do a better job at finding better, more sustainable sources before we choke each other to death with the byproducts. I am sure that we will.

The Who. Their music encouraged me through some tough times. I grieve that Keith and John are no longer with us, but Pete and Roger still are. They were a singular grouping of very talented people.

Gene Roddenberry. His futuristic and optimistic outlook on human nature, along with his vivid imagination, stimulated and still stimulates both science and the humanities. Think of a world devoid of Star Trek and its offshoots, and I will posit that such a world is much duller than this one is.

There are many others, such as the luck of being healthy, not being homeless, and having enough to eat. But I do not wish to run this into a series.

Please join us here Sunday evening at 7:00 Eastern for a real series, called Pique the Geek, a science and technology post. This time it will be part three of three in kitchen materials for cooking, concerning plastics.

Warmest regards,

Doc

Tags: Dailykos.com, Thankfulness, Thanksgiving