Thanksgiving, of course

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. So I, along with most of the people in America, have been thinking about what I'm thankful for. We're all thankful for friends and family (even those of us who say we aren't thankful for family and friends are secretly thankful for them). We're thankful for health, jobs, security, living in the greatest country on the planet and so on. Those are the easy answers.

But what else can we be thankful for? We're commanded to give thanks for everything, not just the good things (Eph. 5:20), so here goes. This not a comprehensive list, by any stretch of the imagination, and it focuses on the good things, but it's a start.

Speaking of imagination, I'm thankful for mine. Even though sometimes it goes off on tangents I really don't want to follow, for the most part, it's pretty cool. (I know, since I control it, that's how it should be.) I love the stories that are floating around in my head and how I can change dialogue, character names and anything else I want to on a whim. I love how the stories and people I create in my mind are mine and mine alone. I don't have to share them with anyone else if I don't want to. I love how they're always waiting for me, never complaining that it's been weeks since I thought about them.

I'm thankful for my eyesight. If I couldn't see, I couldn't take pictures, and that's one of my favorite parts of my job. As a photographer for the Seward, Friend and Milford newspapers, I have the unique opportunity of getting to watch athletes develop through the years. Seeing them first take the field as scared little freshmen to watching them leave the field for the final time as more grown-up seniors is something not everyone gets to do.

I'm thankful for the phone. Because of the phone, I get to keep in touch with my family and friends, although I don't call as often as I should. The instant feedback available with the phone is something we all tend to take for granted, but it's a great thing. Kudos to Alexander Graham Bell for inventing the device that allows us all to talk, no matter where we are.

I'm thankful for the TV, although I watch way too much of it. The selection of channels allows me to choose what I want to watch and, if there's nothing on I'm interested in, I can put in a movie and watch that. While most of the offerings don't appeal to me, a few do, and I'm thankful to be able to watch "my" shows.

As we enter the holiday season and consider our blessings, we should be thankful. For everything.