I gave into the gravity of cooking a holiday meal. It's a stronger influence than gravity now that I think about it. What swayed me to buy a Butterball wasn't the low price—it was the thought of enjoying turkey panini sandwiches in our new sandwich maker; it was thinking I'd have an excuse to make green bean casserole, pecan pie, and Stove-Top stuffing.

Now that the Day of the Bird is here it also means the flood-gates of Christmas marketing have been opened. I think of it as Mr. Burns releasing his hounds. For the next 32 days there's going to be Christmas crammed down our throats—some of it will be enjoyable: like those cute Rankin/Bass productions with Rudolph and the Bumble.

As much as I do enjoy having a real tree in the house, I think I'll skip it this year. I'll be flying on Christmas Day and so we'll more than likely celebrate Christmas at someone else's house on Christmas Eve. Perhaps I'll look into putting up a Christmas Twig.

The year is winding down, winter is almost here, and that puts us into an introspective and reflective mood. How will I remember 2006? Will it truly be the year without a Santa Claus? Will 2007 not happen at all until Rudolph and previous Father Times find the lost Baby New Year?

In thinking about being thankful, I notice that each day I have a little bit of thanks and appreciation—though not a conscious and deliberate declaration of thanks. Examples: During the night when I am bone tired and would like to sleep un-interrupted, Smee decides that this is the ideal time to come and lay on my head and try to hatch me. He purrs with such happiness that whatever irritation and annoyance I initially felt is melted away into blissful love. I recall life before Smee and how I longed for this kind of feline companionship—the kind that transcends species differences and reaches a deep spiritual level.

And my thanks isn't all for Smee. I've been known to be thankful for the other 4 felines, and yes, thankfullness for Pooky. In my mind Pooky is the closest human there is to being a cat—minus the purring and kneading. Often I do take Pooky for granted, but then I catch myself and realize that though Pooky's behavior gets under my skin, I remember to laugh about it. It's silly to let little annoyances get in the way.

Least I not piss off the karma gods and powers that be, I give thanks, too, when things go right—and I've been known to be thankful for when things go horribly wrong. When things go wrong it teaches me a valuable lesson and I learn something from the experience. Mostly I learn that I'll never do the same thing again that made things go horribly wrong.

May your holiday feast be blessed with a moist turkey,
May you enjoy the warmth of love from family and friends,
May you get the bigger end of the wishbone, and
May you experience great joy and happiness on this day of celebrating thanks!