Thanksgiving Swim

Thanksgiving Swim
Giving Thanks an Ocean Away

I did something today I've never done on Thanksgiving - jumped in the ocean. The water in New Zealand's Bay of Plenty is shockingly, refreshingly cold in November. I'd just come off a two-peat of The Mount's summit and it felt good. In a silly, crazy way.

I was thinking how grateful I was to be swimming at this time of year; how thankful I am for heaps of people, places and experiences I knew nothing about two years ago, when I prepared my disastrous Cape Town Thanksgiving feast. So here, in ten minutes (ooh - set the oven timer!) is the What-I'm-Thankful-For-2012-List :

1) Two healthy, (mostly) joyful children

2) A loving partner who tolerates my moods, quirks and antics (and probably really, really wishes I wrote fiction).

3) The fact none of my immediate family is seriously ill

4) Sean's gift of love, his 'what-if?' nature and his teaching of what it means to live in a committed relationship

5) Two loving parents (my Mom and Dad) who adore Fiona and Finley, plus an extra Grandma (Kathe) who loves them, too

6) Running friends, writing friends. New friends. Old friends. Here and elsewhere

7) The ability to feed two children who often eat more than me

8) Writing - any kind - crap writing, okay writing, writing that verges on being better than okay

[Five more minutes on the oven timer, because the aforementioned angels are interrupting me]

9) Running - any kind - stair waddling, slow plodding, running that verges on being better than okay.

10) Our wide-open ocean view.

11) Pancakes and bacon and pumpkin anything.

12) Chocolate

13) Great books. Mediocre books. Books in any form.

14) National Public Radio (which I play incessantly using my iPod and speakers Pete got me)

Gosh, darn it - time's up. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

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