Thinking of thankful things

And so, suddenly, it’s Thanksgiving time again. Did we somehow miss a month since May or is this how time flies?  It’s amazing how the calendar manages to zip around through another summer season and land on the middle of October before we even have a chance to lose our summer tans. I guess we should be thankful that the calendar doesn’t move any faster than it already does.
Continuing this theme, here are a few random, and tongue-in-cheek, thoughts on things we should perhaps be  thankful  for:
• At least it’s not Christmas already.
• The leaves in your yard that were piling up in that one corner have now magically blown over into the corner of your neighbour’s yard. Say a quiet prayer that they don’t blow back.
• You got through the summer without having to do that outside painting that you’ve been meaning to do, but somehow never got around to, and still haven’t, and now it’s too late.
• This year’s prolific zucchini crop is finally finished. If your family is like ours, they’re probably suffering from zucchini-recipe overkill. My wife finally gave up mentioning that zucchini was in almost every dish we ate for the last month and a half, since a family revolt seemed imminent.
• Lawn cutting is almost over just as the old mower seems likely to permanently pack it in. “If it will just start and run one more time,” is a familiar refrain at this time of year. Amazingly, the clunker of a mower  will regenerate itself again next spring and probably limp through another summer as it has done so many times before. Must be due to the wonderful annual six or seven months  rest it gets.
• Standard time and really early sunsets haven’t arrived — yet.
It’s hard to believe that just a couple of months ago we were enjoying so much daily sunlight and its evening afterglow until after 10 p.m. Ah, those heavenly long evenings in June.
• In an age of material desires, we are still able to get so much satisfaction out of the simple pleasures of the summer season. It’s probably true that we appreciate and get more out of the six months from May through October than others who live in a gentler climate.
• There will be many days in the long winter ahead which will be beautiful, not bone-chilling, and full of gentle snowfalls, pretty winter scenes and fun outdoor activities.  Such days will cause us to almost forgive and forget Mother Nature for the other winter moments of harsh, cold  winds and horizontal snows.
• You’ve had a winter tune-up done on your car. You have, haven’t you?
• The agony and frustration of golf is almost behind us for another season.
It’s the rare moments of joy and ecstasy on the course that will cause us to forget the eights and nines we suffered all season. Instead, we’ll remember the putts that fell, the drives that bore down the middle and those magical chip-ins.  And we’ll look forward to another season of hacking and slashing next summer. In fact, even before Christmas, we’ll be saying, “We can hardly wait.”
Oh. And for those of you who winter down south, and include golf in your activities, lucky you, but get ready for more of the same frustration you had during the northern golf season.
• At least at this point, you’re not sick to death of snow shovelling.