Happy (American) Thanksgiving, friends – it’s tomorrow!  I’m spending the day wrapping up a bit of work in hopes of an actual breather and a real four-day weekend, and later this afternoon I’ll probably be elbow deep in potato peelings.  While I make final preparations for a weekend that I hope will include some of my favorite things – like mashed potatoes, hikes through crunchy fallen leaves, and time with my grandmother – I’m thinking, as always, of the big and small things for which I am grateful.  The big things are obvious – sweet, healthy kiddos; a marriage that is going on fifteen years now; a roof over my head, healthy food to eat, and the means to send my kids to a good school; and a job where I do work that I’m good at and where my colleagues respect me.  But there are little things, too.  Things like:

• Shelves of good books to read, especially my beloved classics.
• Related: an excellent public library system.
• Farmers’ market flowers on grey afternoons.
• The Slightly Foxed Quarterly, with its cream-colored covers and literary joys.
• Tea!  All the tea!
• The fun of fitting jigsaw pieces together with my puzzle-loving little guy.
• Lovely next-door neighbors.
• Bruschetta from Pizzeria Paradiso.  So delicious.
• The Great British Bake-Off, for when I want to turn off my brain and watch people being kind to each other and baking up delicious treats.
• Lights in the trees in Old Town.
• Bolognese sauce made with Impossible burger ground, impossibly delicious.
• Brick sidewalks and cobblestone streets.
• Yellow and red leaves outside my kitchen window.
• Shenandoah National Park, practically in my backyard.
• Afternoons spent flipping through old photo albums, reliving good times.
• The Mount Vernon Trail, which is the best running and biking location.
• Newly discovered playgrounds – and old favorites, too.
• Texts from my BFF, who has been sending me videos of dolphins playing in the gulf waters right off her dock.
• Jane Austen.
• The free LaCroix we have at work.  That’s right.
• Hockey season gearing up just as baseball wound spectacularly down.
• Having my dad’s old film camera back in working order.
• My favorite warm orange sweater from Target, which is a weekday workhorse.
• Vacation plans starting to fall into place for 2020.
• Blue skies and crisp breezes.
• Roasted vegetables, especially when they get a little caramelized around the edges.
• My new wallet, a birthday gift from my BFF.  It’s vegan, pretty, and easy to organize.
• Mists rolling in over the Potomac River, and anticipating paddling season (already).

And there are so many more that I can think of – small things that make life nicer every day.  The fact that I can make such a long list – and have to cut myself off, lest I go on for hours – is in and of itself a big thing.

What little things are you grateful for this season?