hvala veliko/ありがとうございます

i give thanks for many things on this day (whose meaning i condone wholeheartedly, if not its origin or what it has, apparently, come to signify; is this the only truly USA/SAD holiday? my relatedly wry grin pertains to the fact that my brother, from Japan (and from Japan), is now, during the Thanksgiving vacation (that CAJ didn't always have), visiting our midwestern-US grands—in Paris).

would that it not be necessary to celebrate a special remembrance for Thanks, itself—but for the ones always with me:

for people who Matter, marked and loved with moveable push-pins on the map.
for the marvel of communication, today—its ease and, especially, its content.
for words and their meanings, the multiplicities of expression and understanding, in worn and still-blistering languages.
for memory and for change.
for sustenance, in all its forms.
for unquestioned warmth and chill clarity.
for agility, both mobile and static.

and for this scrappy, confused region that has become my home—from which i can be grateful at all, in which i am blessed beyond measure.