Compelling Interest

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, 2007. Let's take stock.

I am grateful for:

My children and my entire family. The Armstrong family. The Head family. Ted, Bridget, Masako.

The casts and crews of all the shows I've conducted: Damn Yankees (all four productions), Les Miserables, George M!, Iolanthe, Ruddigore, The Mikado, Chicago, Cabaret, A Chorus Line, Singin' In the Rain, and The Pajama Game.

Rodgers & Hammerstein and all of their wonderful shows I haven't had the chance to conduct yet.

The comedians: Bill Cosby, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Lucille Ball, Larry Hagman, Bill Dailey, Bob Newhart, Woody Allen, Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Andy Griffith, Carol Burnett, Dick van Dyke, Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Bea Arthur, Alan Alda, Larry Linville, McLean Stevenson.

The musicians: Scott Joplin, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Stan Kenton, Charlie Barnet, Woody Herman, Tommy Dorsey, Les Brown, Artie Shaw.

The Olde Guard: Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Richard Strauss, all the other Strausses, Sousa, Puccini.

The authors: Steinbeck, Twain, Dickens, Poe, Rawlings, Stowe, Huxley, Wilde, Wells, Hardy, Hawthorne, Bronte, Crane.

The soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Snow.

The Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen who serve honorably, and especially those who would rather be over here than over there.

Our Founding Fathers.

People who give the human race a good reputation.

My dishwasher and indoor plumbing in general.

Happy Thanksgiving, gentle reader!

Thanksgiving Came A Day Early

[Written the evening before Thanksgiving, 2008]

Spent the day with my boys. They were here overnight, and we slept in this morning - perfect start to the day. They went with me to install a new string in a customer's piano, and from there it was lunch at Bob Evans. We always sit up at the counter. I don't normally do this, but I broke down and let each of us pick out a cute Christmas tree ornament from the selection up by the cash register. Live a little, right?

So we get home, and the soundtrack to "A Charlie Brown Christmas" goes into the CD player, and up goes the tree! After we put our three brand new ornaments up together, the boys did the rest of the decorating - nothing on the side facing the street; everything on the living room side. I told myself I would spread them out evenly (all around) later, but then I contented myself to leave it just the way it is; it has a certain charm.

Then it was time to take the boys over to their mom's (my eight-year-old gave the tree a hug before we left). Turns out we were about an hour early because mom had to work late. We went across the street into a field to play tag and hang out. In the middle of the field was a marshy area with tall, swaying pussywillows. We became enthralled with sending thousands upon thousands of pussywillow seeds into the air with just one handful. It was like an exploding pillow in our hands. We decided we needed to make the biggest, fluffiest pile of seeds ever - and we did, and in the process became covered in them from head to toe. Live a little!

We found that running around helped get the seeds off our clothes, and then found that rolling down a grassy hill took them off like one of those "lint remover" rolls. Meanwhile, the sun was sinking and the sky was turning beautiful shades of dark and light blue, pink, and orange.

Their mom got home, and I took them back across the street (completely and miraculously seedless) so they could get ready to drive to their grandparents' house for the holiday weekend with all the traditional sights, sounds, tastes and smells; complete with various aunts, uncles, and younger cousins.

And so, the boys are on their way over the river and through the woods, I am looking at the tree and thinking of their cute, meticulous hands placing each ornament just so, and somewhere out in the dark, next to quietly rustling reeds, an enormous pile of pussywillow seeds slowly and silently takes to the air, layer by soft layer.

And I am grateful.

Thanksgiving, 2009

I am grateful to be alive during these most interesting times; grateful that so many have come before me to educate the race on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Many from the past have poured out their hearts in word and deed to help light the way for those who would come later. If I can be one of those who helps even in some small way, I will be grateful for the chance.

I am grateful for fatherhood, my highest calling. May I be a blessing to my sons.

I am grateful that I am me. I like me, by and large. I like that I have a sense of humor but also take the time to ponder serious things. I don’t know everything, but I think I have a pretty good head on my shoulders – and even if I err, at least I am sincere.

I am grateful for books and movies that make me cry, because it shows that I am human and that I care.

I am grateful that evil people die, too, and wish more of them would en masse.

I’m glad I’m intelligent enough to be grateful for things big and small, and that I’m not afraid to express it.

Happy Thanksgiving, reader. Take some time and express your gratitude for those you love.