Changing the Placemats

It’s the month of Thanksgiving, or I should say, the month when we are most aware of the things for which we are thankful. Right on schedule then, I changed the décor of the kitchen table from crows and black-and-tan gingham to dark orange-and-tan gingham and a horn of plenty.

My little horn of plenty is made of woven grapevine, with an upturned small end and a wide open mouth from which tumble plastic gourds, grapes, appropriately colored leaves and even a few pine cones. These things represent all I am thankful for.

Every day I thank God for the good things in my life, and it’s an easy thing to do because I feel truly blessed. I have (mostly) been able to adjust my life style to a fixed income, eliminating some things I didn’t really need to do anyway.

I am blessed with good neighbors and friends who provide me with (mostly) intelligent interaction and lots of laughs. They come when called, which is more than I can say for my lovable Lab, and I wouldn’t trade any of them.

I am thankful for my job at this newspaper wherein I get to indulge my propensity for “fixing” poor grammar, incomprehensible sentence structure, and phonetic spelling. While all of these things have a certain country charm, they must be made readable for the public.

I am even thankful for the leaves on the trees, but only in the summer when they do a good job of shading the patio so I can sit outside and read a good book instead of pulling grass out of the cracks in the sidewalk. This time of year those same leaves are the bane of my existence as they persist in falling into an ankle-deep blanket all over the yard.

I am more thankful than you can even imagine that we have libraries in several places in this county. I am grateful for the patrons who visit them, and show the continued necessity for them. I am grateful that I learned at an early age to appreciate a good book and don’t have to depend on television for entertainment or education. Computers fall into this category as well – on the negative side. Yes, I’m an old school dinosaur and proud of it. Give me a thick complicated novel written by an intelligent author any day.

I am on-my-knees thankful for my good doctor, Dr. Hahesy, who is ever so cute and patient and understanding and keeps me (mostly-my fault, not hers) in line health-wise. I am grateful for the guys who work with Griffith Heating and Air, who also come when called and are likewise patient with me and try to explain all things old furnace related when things go haywire.

I am grateful to the faculty and administration of Central Middle and Randolph-Henry High School, who created clever activities for their students in the weeks before Veterans Day, to instill in the young folks some measure of knowledge and appreciation for those who have served our country in the military. God forbid that these values are lost.

On the other side of the coin, there are things for which I have trouble finding ways to be thankful. Lately, it’s been those folks who move here with the idea that they are the one and only answer to what they see as problems in Charlotte County. Heads up, people, things are a little different here than they are in northern Virginia or wherever else you’ve lived for the last thirty years. If you decided that this is a good place to retire or whatever, you must realize that this is indeed a good place to retire, without the need for all the rabble-rousing and grumbling and nit-picking. At your age you don’t need to be making fools of yourselves.

And, of course, the new courthouse. It’s ugly, completely destroys the landscape and feel of our courthouse square, and is the best of example of over-kill I can think of. What’s that going to do to your tax bill, I ask you? Wonder if any of those come-heres have a solution for that?

Well, I don’t want to end this narrative on a negative note, so I’ll say thank you to you, the readers of this newspaper. We appreciate your loyalty and will continue to make your experience with us a worthwhile one.