I'm not really one for holidays. Particularly not Thanksgiving. It's always seemed to me to be another day my culture celebrates without ever really knowing why. And it's hard to trust any historical basis when it's first expressed to you through pre-school plays.

Nevertheless, one thing Thanksgiving does encourage is just that - thanks. Reflection on the good has become a rare thing for me, and it's something that I miss. I used to hate it when my parents would make us stand up at the Thanksgiving dinner table and list what we were thankful for - it always seemed so forced. I imagine I'll feel the same pangs this year. But I'm making a conscious decision to think about it now, without external prompting.

In no particular order aside from free association (which I firmly believe is an order all its own), my list of things I'm thankful for. I'd really like to hear your lists, if you're willing to post them. Get cheesy with me. Can't hurt.

Let's see...I'm thankful for:

• The standard things to be thankful for, which are important so I'll mention them here despite the lack of originality - food, shelter, love, friendships, intelligence, books, smiles, laughter, midnight, sunlight, earth, wind, fire...you get the picture.
• Breezes of wind when I'm walking down the street
• Boston and all its quiet architecture.
• Mrs. Fleet, my high school history teacher. Didn't teach me a damn thing about history, but she loved me dearly, and taught me the value of intelligence and kindness, and that was really all I needed at the time.
• Stories about A.J. and his bug phobia.
• bubster - for posting quite possibly the nicest note I've ever gotten
• Kacky Britt, for being an influential acquaintance without the potholes or benefits associated with friendship.
• The day Chuck and I spent Christmas shopping two years ago (!), and the I Love You that he managed through the laughter.
• Ms. Mac, for making me hate her and admire her all at once, for forcing me to write all the time
• Campbell, the writing teacher no one liked except me, who helped me find my way
• Ludo and her everpresent truce with the world
• Bob, the car that took me wherever I wanted to go - particluarly the park in Ken Caryl at midnight where I sat and imagined an entire world
• Coffee, oh my dear sweet coffee
• Swimming pools and all their harshness. That rough surface hitting my feet after a flip turn. The underwater pull. Adrenaline and panic and the reverberation of cheering.
• Exhaustion, and the sheer delight of falling into bed overcome by it
• Shannon Fairfield, for letting me live vicariously through her long enough so that I knew what I didn't want to be
• Joe, Jedd, Adam, Maya and Nicole, for sleepless sweltering nights in the editing rooms, dancing to the Mag dub session, and surviving Tisch without succumbing to complete self loathing
• Michael Voyer, my introduction to the truly quirky aspects of human nature
• My parents, for emphasizing education in all its forms, for dealing with my career impulses, but mostly for being the most insightful, intelligent people I know.
• Sting, just because his music makes me really really happy
• Burnham Hoyt, for designing Red Rocks Amphitheater as well as the home I spent most of my later childhood in
• Liz, for being the funniest, strongest, lovliest, sharpest person I've ever met. You got the good genes, no fair!
• Did I mention coffee?
• Ant, for restoring my faith in humanity a bit and for being so darn cute
• "Rent" and "Les Mis"
• Anger, though negative, I missed it a little
• Books with great titles like "Tender is the Night" and "As I Lay Dying"
• Kenneth Branagh
• Harrison Ford
• James Cameron, for making a movie that made me want to make movies oh so many years ago. And for Aliens, particularly that moment of pause right before Ripley torches the alien nest.
• Amanda and Gary and Krissy and Casey and everyone else who refuses to let life "just go by"
• Marc Votto, for not yelling at me at all when I wrapped the van around a hummer
• Blue jeans. Sweaters. Wool socks. Slippers. Hair ties.
• James, Billy, Doc, Lauren, Mitch, Steve, and the rest of you lot. I miss you terribly.
• The Little Prince
• Jim, for not giving up on me, ever
• Shawn and Spartus, for making me laugh uncontrollably on such a regular basis
• Becky Farrell, for being the best of best friends
• Alexander Woollcott, who wrote something that I've been trying to say for 20 odd years, in much better (and fewer) words than I would ever have found.
• Yaffa Cafe, Kate's Joint, Gigi, Nevada "Bob's", Panchitos, and every bar in between
• Denver, for smelling sweet despite the high pollution content
• The Broncos, for giving me something completely arbitrary to root for
• Brownies. Mmmmm.
• County Line Road - for being bumpy
• Kris, because he's Kris
• Everyone at Floor 42, for enriching my life in ways you'll probably never realize you did
• And finally, I'm thankful to Ben, for not existing, yet.

Well, okay, that list got a bit out of control. I didn't mean to get quite that personal. When I started I was thinking more along the lines of the universal - "Chocolate" and "the BBC" and so forth...so I apologize if it doesn't make much sense to you.

Oddly, I feel much better. Maybe my parents had a point about it being important to announce what you're thankful for. Don't you just hate it when they're right?

Anyway, post your lists below, if you like...

Best,
Kate