The last four months of the year are my favourite months of the year. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are the trifecta for me with each building on the previous. Autumn is beautiful, colourful, and cool with wonderful nutty aromas. I love going for long walks in the cool weather with a heavy shirt and listening to the leaves crunch beneath my feet. It's calming and relaxing, and if I can find the right place, the only sounds to be heard are my own and the birds.
Halloween, of course, is fantastic. Halloween is whatever you want to make of it; it can be a family affair, it can be fun, silly, scary, frightening, or just nothing at all. It can be bright. It can be dark. I'm definitely in the minority, but I also enjoy how the nights begin to get longer; I think, in some part, I enjoy seeing all the lighted decorations. Regardless, I get a big kick out of looking outside at 6:00pm and seeing it dark. Call me strange.
Growing up in Canada, with Thanksgiving being in October, there wasn't much to do in November other than play ice hockey an try to stay warm. The US, of course, celebrates Thanksgiving the end of November. At some point between moving to the US and now I've begun taking all of Thanksgiving week off as a vacation/holiday combination, with this year being no different.
December, of course, is Christmas. With very few exceptions I always take two weeks off for Christmas, right through the New Year. This time off is, for me, better than a summer vacation.
Now, today is Thanksgiving Day, and I'm sitting here in my warm house watching a parade on TV and wondering about what it is I'm thankful for. Y'know, being an adult - and being a parent - is not the easiest thing to do. It is, in fact, outright difficult. When I was younger I always felt that being "thankful for my family, blah blah blah" was the epitomy of boredom. I would know that my life has hit a low point, I was sure, if I ever found myself spouting off those old boring things.
So now, as we're 11/12ths through 2021 after the complete dumpster fire that was 2020, I find myself wondering, just what am I thankful for?
I can begin by being boring, as much as it makes me cringe a little on the inside to do so; I am thankful my children are still alive. There are places in the world where children are routinely in danger, for sure. At home, however, I am not only trying to raise children which suffer depression and autism, but 2021 gifted one of my children with suicidal thoughts. One hospitalisation, one lengthy outpatient stay, weekly therapy sessions, and a great deal of attention has brought him from suicidal and cutting himself to something less than that. So, call me boring. I'm happy my children are safe, as healthy as they can be, and alive.
On a similarly boring note, I am thankful I get to work from home. Not only do I get to work from home, but I get to do laundry, clean the kitchen, get the boys to school and back, and do it all mostly from my pajamas!
I'm really thankful for being able to partake in various hobbies and do fun things that I enjoy, such as random photography, building games, listening to music, or whathaveyou.
Seriously, day to day may be a difficult thing to do, but the house is warm, there is food within it, animals to play with, toys to have fun with, and everyone is alive. Today, at least, everyone has also laughed at least once and, all things considered, that's a good thing I am thankful for.
What are you thankful for?
(c) All images and photographs, unless otherwise specified, are created and owned by me.
(c) Victor Wiebe
About Me
Amateur photographer. Wannabe author. Game designer. Nerd.
General all around problem-solver and creative type.
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Good reasons given to be thankful, our children being first and foremost, sorry to hear your youngster took a bad turn during the year of this I was not aware, making recovery is a joy in itself.
Living under one roof, one is grateful for a roof over ones head, food on the table, warmth and safely tucked into the home as a family especially over the last almost two years. Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving Victor.
Thanks @joanstewart ! It was a good day, very laid back and unstressful.
The boy is making a turn for the better. It's a process, but he's getting there. I appreciate the well wishes.
I hope you've had a great weekend!
Good to hear you had quality time, it is very concerning how children are going to react with life in these times. We have to learn another new skill set how to navigate and assist them in understanding sometimes.
Life carries on, very much one day at a time, stay well and keep well Victor.
Good fortune that keeps getting better. This, I relay to all my friends and family. 😎
If every day is better than the previous, even just a little, it's a positive trajectory. 😀
I love Halloween too but not really widely celebrated in our country. Although trick or treating is slowly starting to be adapted here. I feel you with the work from home setup. Something that I am very thankful of.
Yeah, I don't know how I'd react to having to fight with a daily commute again. By far, though, the best thing about working from home is being able to just walk away for 5 or 10 minutes if needed. The worst thing is the easy access to snacks! Oy! 😂