Thankfulness

Jedda asked as a part of #weblogpomoama, “What are you thankful for?” It’s a question well worth answering. Particularly today when things seem out of whack, it’s good to stop, breathe and take stock of the good parts of life. With that in mind, I’ll attempt a list.

Table of Contents

I’m thankful for family.

It’s been a difficult few years for a number of reasons. To make a really long story short, we had to walk away from 13 years living overseas and move stateside a few years ago. Amidst the massive transition, I’ve been so grateful for my wife and kids. It seems like at least one of the four of us will be having a good day and can cheer the rest up. Even with the transition stress having mostly passed, it’s great to know their is some one their with a hug (if that’s needed).

I’m thankful that my kids seem to be thriving.

This was definitely a concern in the transition but they are both finding their own in school and activities and we couldn’t be more happy about that.

I’m thankful for home.

Living overseas, we never expected to have a permanent home to call ours. That’s changed and we have hoome that’s working great for our family. I love being able to retreat to my desk or the TV in the (unfinished) basement to escape if need be, or working at the dining table amidst the bustle of life, or sitting and visiting with friends in the front room, or smoking meat out back. There is lots of work that needs doing but lots to be thankful for in the meantime.

I’m thankful for North Carolina.

I won’t lie - we left the most beautiful city in the world (Cape Town) when we moved back to the states. But we’ve found life and vibrancy and natural spaces that fill the void left by Cape Town. We are 5-8 minute drive from a park that mostly amazing forests to walk through. Our city is growing and thriving. We can drive a few hours one direction and be in the mountains or a few hours another direction and be at the beach and that’s perfect.

I’m thankful for the mental space to write and code and tinker.

I lost this for a number of years for complicated reasons beyond the scope of this article. What is important is refinding that voice to create (whether it’s writing or coding or whatever). I’m still very much figuring out what this looks like fully but it’s coming together and I couldn’t be more excited. You can follow this here or at WNDR or over on Mastodon (Bluesky too but it’s mostly to track comments here and reposts of what I share on Mastodon).

I’m thankful for communities online.

It can be hard to find community. I’m realy grateful for the ones I’ve been able to find online that have helped process life, transition and everything in between. It’s one of the things I’ve appreciated about Mastodon. Somewhat adjacent to Mastodon is omg.lol. There’s also a pocket on Bluesky that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed engaging.

I’m thankful to have a smoker.

One thing I took away from my time in South Africa in particular is a love of cooking over an open fire and smoking meats. I love that I can continue to do that.

I’m thankful for great music.

I missed a lot of good music in my time overseas. I few that I now can’t stop listening to are Sleep Token, Frontiers, Indigo De Souza, Drug Church and Knuckle Puck.

Closing things out

This list shouldn’t be exhaustive. There’s more I could mention and more I could write about. I might even convert it into a static page (or just add to this - I don’t know?). Or I may just let this stand as somethiing I can return to when life just feels a little too overwhelming.

What’s on your list???