Here we are on the eve of Thanksgiving Day. Or for some, here we are on the eve, eve of Black Friday or the eve, eve, eve of The Iron Bowl. However you look at it, its happening this week.

My husband and I were discussing this holiday, wondering aloud why it falls on the particular Thursday it falls upon. Well, Google gave me the answer.

They moved it from the last Thursday in November to the third Thursday at the request of businesses that wanted more Christmas shopping time between holidays. This happened long before there was a Black Friday.

Seems Thanksgiving getting lost in the rush toward Christmas is not an entirely new thing.

Still, it seems ashamed to jump over an opportunity to take a day to simply be thankful for stuff. (And eat, and eat).

So, in celebration of Thanksgiving Day, here are some things I am thankful for (small and large in no particular order of importance).

I Am Thankful For…

Toilet paper — think for a moment what the options might be without this product. (Also, indoor potties).

Paper towels — not having them is a close second to life without toilet paper. (Throw tissues for wiping noses into this category, especially the ones containing aloe).

Vacuum cleaners — the bag-less kind and cordless ones — (they always discontinue the replacement bags a month after you buy the latest vacuum cleaner).

Remote control televisions and other assorted remote control thingies — because walking across the room to change a channel or flip a switch is so much work.

Chocolate — no explanation needed.

Coffee — same as above.

Turnip greens and cornbread because I am a Southern girl.

Pantyhose no longer being mandatory. Leggings being acceptable at any age and size.

Dishwashers (the appliance kind) and paper plates, cups and cutlery. If you don’t have one, you surely appreciate the other.

Toenail clippers — can you imagine what we’d do without them.

Soap that I don’t have to make because I can buy it at the dollar store.

Hair dryers and leaf blowers — I put them together because one is just a larger version of the other.

Again, in no particular order — cat liter, liquid hand soap, potting soil, water hoses that don’t crimp, (not sure that one exists) the 60s radio channel, ball point pens, cordless/cell phones, electric car windows, ceiling fans, central heat and air, books you hold in your hand that still have print on paper pages, the internet (sometimes), no longer coloring my hair… etc.

On a bit more serious note, (although I’m very serious about being thankful for every single thing I’ve listed so far) I add these blessings.

Other Items of Thanksgiving thankfulness …

Breathing in and out with ease.

Being able to walk at different speeds.

The ability to give and get hugs.

The people in my life (some I realize are teaching me lessons I may not always appreciate).

The soft feel of my dogs’ fur and the sound of a cat purring at the foot of my bed on a cold night.

The beauty of nature from the sky to the grass, from a cloudless day to a rainy one, from the warmth of sun to the chill of an autumn wind.

A roof over my head and plenty of food to eat every day.

Clean drinking water.

The sound of beautiful music.

Continuing to learn things.

Giving and receiving.

Loving and being loved.

The joy of waking up alive another day.

God or Allah or divine energy or the life force or whatever name given to the grace that gives us our being.

I think that last one sums it up nicely and is something to appreciate on more than the third November Thursday we call Thanksgiving Day.

So before we rush ahead to Black Friday and Iron Bowl Saturday, let us pause and appreciate all the stuff for which we are thankful.

Please don’t forget toilet paper…

 

Nancy Blackmon is a former newspaper editor and a yoga teacher.