Okay, out of curiosity, I went back to see what the Bostonian Drunkard's thankful for.
I'm thankful for being in a new home. Earlier this year, my wife and I moved out of our overpriced downtown bunker and into a nice little house on the outskirts of the city. The rent doesn't break the bank anymore, we have a small yard where we can grill, and we have actual neighbors instead of drunken mobs throwing trash everywhere and vomiting in the streets at all hours of the day and night. There are birds (read: real birds, not pigeons) everywhere, including a huge hawk that soars above the house on wings that look to be fifty feet across. The cat seems to dig the new place more than either of us, which is enough to be thankful for all by itself, given how much of a vicious brute he can be when things aren't to his liking. We have a home now, my wife and I, and I feel blessed because of it.
My wife's multiple sclerosis has been entirely stable all this past year, and for that I am more thankful than I can explain. No new symptoms, no new attacks, and the process surrounding her daily care and medication has become as routine as brushing our teeth in the morning. I'm thankful her job provides her with excellent health care insurance, and I know all too well just how unbelievably lucky we both are to have this. The doctors tell us that if her next physical is as positive as her last one was, we can start seriously thinking about and planning for having children. Thankfulness compounded by thankfulness.
Uh oh. That sounds ominous.
My family is healthy and sound. My friends are all hanging in there to one degree or another, but all of them likewise have their health, and just about all of them still have a job. Nobody I know has died or gotten sick, nobody has gotten hurt (with the exception of one friend who knocked out some teeth in an unfortunate encounter with a sidewalk), and nobody has moved away. My friend's children are all growing up too fast - toddlers became sprinters, and some of those sprinters became college freshmen, a mind-blowing transition even from a distance - but I am told this is to be expected. Someday, soon perhaps, I will be afforded the opportunity to experience this first-hand.
There's a reference to Chief S itting Bull, the bird-smacking stoned red-faced primitive.
