Did you know the first harvest festival which inspired Thanksgiving actually lasted three days? This is approximately the same amount of time it takes to digest the average modern Thanksgiving dinner. And it shows that despite the many hardships they endured, even the Pilgrims were able to set aside time to celebrate, eat too much, and lie on the couch watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Thanksgiving continues to be a reminder that even in the most difficult of circumstances, there is always a reason to give thanks – and to overeat. Let me give you some examples: – I’m thankful that when my cell phone was missing recently, it was missing because I lost it, and not because it had been stolen by someone with hundreds of contacts outside my roaming area. I’m thankful that it was set on vibrate instead of on silent, so I could hear it buzzing from the depths of my car – barely. And I’m thankful that my friend kept calling and calling and calling, because it took me a long time to track down the buzzing. I’m thankful that I wasn’t driving when she was calling because it’s hard to see the road when you’re reaching into the backseat. And I’m thankful that I don’t clean my car more often, because if I did I might have tossed out the cell phone with all the trash that was on my floorboards before I realized it was even missing, which is what I’m afraid might have happened to my checkbook. See how easy it is to find the good in every situation. – I’m thankful that I have electricity and that it works on most days. And I’m thankful that the oatmeal in my microwave oven had just finished cooking seconds before the electricity went out, because my microwave doesn’t work well without it and I don’t work well without breakfast. I’m thankful that my electric garage door has one of those emergency pulls for when the power goes out. And I’m thankful that my husband was able to leave his office and drive the 20 minutes home to help me when the emergency pull wouldn’t pull. I’m thankful that the electricity came on again just as he was driving up the hill to our house. And I’m really thankful he didn’t know that, otherwise he might have turned around and gone back to work just as the power was going back off again 20 seconds later. – I’m thankful that I was recently able to spend the weekend at a little cabin in the woods. I’m thankful that the cabin was equipped with safety features including a smoke alarm. And I’m thankful that it was another electrical outage and not a fire that set off the smoke alarm in the wee hours of the morning when it was still dark and I was still sleeping because one shouldn’t waste their day in bed when one is in a cabin in the woods. I’m thankful that I had found my cell phone by this time and that it gives off a bit of light so that I was able to find my clothes, get dressed, and abandon the cabin all to the sound of a blaring smoke alarm. I’m also thankful that I still have some hearing left. – Finally, I’m thankful that turkeys go on sale before Thanksgiving, and I’m thankful that I have a gas oven to cook one in. I’m also thankful that I discovered my gas oven isn’t working properly before I stuck a 20-pound turkey in it on Thanksgiving morning, because I don’t think the oven repairman will be working that day, and I don’t think grilling burgers sounds right for Thanksgiving. "Around the Bend" appears regularly in the Advocate and about 30 newspapers in the Midwest, including the Rapid City Journal. Rosby, Rapid City, S.D., lives with her husband and teenaged son. For more on Rosby, visit www.dorothyrosby.com.
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