I’m sitting in my office with lovely old Atlas Cedar standing outside the window, in steadfast loyalty, my heart is full of gratitude. For the family with whom I share the Thanksgiving meal—all of this life. For the great bird and all the plants that gave of themselves to create our feast. For the farmers who tended their flocks and crops. For the truck drivers, the grocers and every hand that touched our blessed meal along its way to us. For the microbes that turned the soil, the bees that pollinated, the rain that fell and all the forces and gifts of Nature that made our meal—and every meal—possible.
Today, I’m grateful to be rant-free, thanks to my new diet. Start a diet on Thanksgiving? Yep, I’ve given up Twitter, Vice News and even NPR Morning Edition. Feels as freeing as losing ten or twenty pounds. At least, that’s what I can recall of such a long-ago experience.
Makes me wonder why I ever torture myself. Is poking myself in the eye with a sharp needle all that much fun? Or am I just an eco-masochist? Rhetorical question.
It’s Sunday evening, and I know what Monday morning brings. Back in the car, taking kids to school, running errands . . . and tuning back into the world. I’m a news junkie from way back, and I know I’ll turn on Morning Edition as soon as I hit the driver’s seat. My endeavors to quit the news last about as long as my attempts to quit coffee. Sure, quitting feels powerful, but where’s the insanity in that?
So I’ll sit here in my news-free office with my pal Atlas for a little while longer. . . for at least as long as this glass of Chardonnay lasts.
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