Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving season is once again upon us. Like most years, I am preparing for a day of watching parades with the kids, going to my sisters house in White Bear Lake to be with family and eat copious amounts of food, and laying on the couch to watch football. That is what I call Thanksgiving. The day, of course, is intended to be a time to "give thanks" for the good things in a person's life (thus the name). I usually end of feeling a little guilty each Thanksgiving because I realize that I spend most of my year worrying about crap like the house being messy, the car I drive, whether or not some sports team beat another and on and on and on. I often take for granted the fact that I am extremely lucky to have a wonderful wife, outstanding kids and extended family, and great life-long friends. I am healthy (Zocor aside) and damn good-looking. I can even sort of play the bass guitar. I am a lucky guy.

Thanksgiving also makes think about a few friends in my life who I have lost touch with. Everyone out there has a few of those friends who, for various reasons, contact is lost with. Days become weeks, weeks become years. It happens to everyone. I know that, most times, one person is not solely to blame for these situations, as most phones allow for both making outgoing calls along with accepting incoming calls. But, it kind of bums me out nonetheless.

Maybe this year I will pick up the phone and call a couple of those friends rather than just thinking about it. I recently wrote a post on the subject of my favorite song lyrics. As long as we're on the Thanksgiving topic, here is one of my favorites by Neil Young:

One of these days,I'm gonna sit down and write a long letter
To all the good friends I've known
And I'm gonna try
And thank them all for the good times together.
Though so apart we've grown.

One of these days,I'm gonna sit downand write a long letter
To all the good friends I've known
One of these days,one of these days, one of these days
And it won't be long, it won't be long.

And I'm gonna thank
That old country fiddler
And all those rough boys
Who play that rock 'n' roll
I never tried to burn any bridges
Though I know I let some good things go.

One of these days,I'm gonna sit down and write a long letter
To all the good friends I've known
One of these days,one of these days,one of these days
And it won't be long, it won't be long.

From down in L.A.
All the way to Nashville
From New York City
To my Canadian prairie home
My friends are scattered
Like leaves from an old maple.
Some are weak, some are strong.

One of these days
I'm gonna sit down and write a long letter
To all the good friends
I've known
One of these days,one of these days,one of these days
And it won't be long, it won't be long.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Jeff