Giving Thanks - 2021

Thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday for a long time. The expectations are simple: be thankful and enjoy a great meal. That’s it. The only down side is that, for some reason, the Detroit Lions get a nationally televised home game every year. Why?

As always, I have a lot to be thankful for:

My wife, Val, who keeps making carrot cake for me every birthday despite my lack of objection.

The way Val laughs.

The way the trees turn bright shades of yellow, orange and red in the fall.

Looking out the window to see the school busses pull up at the end of the day.  

Salmon Sunday with my daughter, Emily. She and I love salmon.

That Val and I got each other the same anniversary gift. (It means we’re in synch)

Catching up with old friends in Massachusetts.

Listening to my son, Sam, play piano, especially when he gets in a groove and does a Radiohead/Pixies/Styx/Billy Joel/Bad Plus/Beatles medley.

Hearing my Emily belt out Brandi Carlile songs at top volume while playing the ukulele.

Val singing along to her favorite songs…even if it’s Christmas music a few months too early.

Being able to pick up a guitar and make something resembling music.

Discovering a new song.

Lake Superior.

Great neighbors.

Photography

Playing catch and Wiffle Ball with Sam.

Getting to see live baseball games this year at Fenway Park, Target Field and CHS Field.

After two years, I finally feel like I know my way around the area where I live.

Getting on the mic and really connecting with a piece of copy.

My clients – new and returning (Note: I did not say old)

These albums:
The War on Drugs – I Don’t Live Here Anymore
Aimee Mann – Queens of the Summer Hotel
Yola – Stand for Myself
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Georgia Blue
Adia Victoria – A Southern Gothic
Rhiannon Giddens – They’re Calling Me Home

These Books (that I read this year):
Marketing Made Simple – Donald Miller
The Vanishing Half – Brit Bennett
Say Nothing – Patrick Radden Keefe
Trick Mirror – Jia Tolentino
Sharks in the Time of Saviors – Kawai Strong Washburn
The Stone Sky – N.K. Jemisin
Parable of the Sower – Octavia Butler
Think Again – Adam Grant
Caste – Isabel Wilkerson
Ball Four – Jim Bouton
The Cruelty is the Point – Adam Serwer
The Glass Hotel – Emily St. John Mandel
1Q84 – Haruki Murakami
Matrix – Lauren Groff
Daisy Jones & the Six – Taylor Jenkins Reid
Harlem Shuffle – Colson Whitehead
Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving and lots to be thankful for, too!