Thanksgiving gives me a reason to stop measuring a good day by how much I have finished. Family, work, teaching, and the ordinary business of keeping a household moving can fill every available corner. Gratitude asks me to notice what those busy corners contain.
The people beside the water
A river trip depends on more people than the ones holding paddles. Someone helps arrange the time. Someone waits at home. Someone taught us a skill we now use without thinking. As an outdoor educator, I want to remember those debts of kindness as carefully as I remember the route.
My Catholic faith gives that gratitude a direction. I can thank God for the people in my care, for the places we are allowed to enjoy, and for the opportunity to pass useful knowledge to another person. Giving thanks should make me more attentive to what I have been entrusted with.
A place at supper
My Polish American roots and Pennsylvania upbringing keep drawing me back to the table. Food is as important as the love of family gathered around the campfire. A meal gives us a practical way to make that love visible: prepare something, offer a portion, notice who has been left standing.
That applies at a campsite as much as at home. Cook for the people who are actually there. Listen to the quiet person. Share the work, including the dishes. Hospitality loses some of its charm if the same person always inherits the washing bowl.
Gratitude with something to do
Caring for a place is one way to give thanks for it. Leave a campsite clean. Respect wildlife and the people who care for public land. Help a new paddler learn without making them feel foolish. Make the next visit possible for someone else.
There is also a neighbor beyond the circle of our own plans. A food donation, a useful favor, or a shared meal can make gratitude practical. Those gestures belong in the season as much as any feast.
A voice from the archive
Our 2010 Thanksgiving greeting, Thankful Things, named family, friends, work, children, health, and time on the water. Sean wrote it during a busy stretch in our lives. Its list remains a good place to begin, even when the circumstances around it have changed.
This Thanksgiving, I hope to make room for that kind of attention. A little quiet, a meal prepared with care, and time enough to listen to the people beside me. There is plenty there to give thanks for.
Return to Thanksgiving Outdoors in Florida for holiday paddling, camp cooking, family time, and our American White Pelican sticker.
