14 Comments on “Thanksgiving Sunset”

1. You too John, I hope you receive as much thanks as you gave today.

2. Ooh, purty!

   :-)

3. We are; all 3 kids home for dinner, good food, animals behaving well. Hope yours was equally good.

4. At dinner, I convinced all three of my guests to buy copies of Redshirts once it comes out. It was oddly topical.

5. Happy thanksgiving to you too! This sunset is fabulous! Very well taken :)

6. Sweet.

7. I have to wonder, in the light of the whole “advent” thing, who a lefty agnostic would give thanks to since the “thanks” in Thanksgiving is given to God.

   I can celebrate the holiday without contradiction even though I’m an agnostic since my agnosticism has to do with how we model an ultimate power in religion. Being a trained and experienced scientist and mathematician I know that all models are wrong and only hint at the truth.

   But how can a lefty agnostic, whose ultimate power is a totalitarian state, celebrate a clearly religious holiday?

8. I reject several of your initial assumptions there, Scorpius.

9. Which ones?

10. To name only one, that the thanks is meant to go to God. That’s certainly the historical root of the holiday, but I’m not obliged to follow that (nor, strictly speaking, is such a thing enumerated in the 1941 law that fixes the fourth Thursday in November as the Thanksgiving public holiday in the United States). Generally speaking, when I give thanks, it’s directly to the person or persons who are directly responsible for the things I am thankful for, or in the case of more existential things, the thanks go to the universe which aligned just so and allowed me those things for which I am thankful. That in the latter case the universe likely is not cognizant of the thanks is not material, since for myself I understand that thankfulness is as much a mindfulness on the part of the the one giving thanks as anything else.

11. Scorpius: a lefty agnostic, whose ultimate power is a totalitarian state,

    OW! OW! OW! Mountain Dew! Through the nose! Fucking HURTS!

12. John, I love your writing and I may even be somewhat jealous of your success. However, what really turns me green with envy is seeing the absolutely beautiful skies you enjoy simply by looking out your door. I long for the peacefulness and serenity each of your photos evokes.

    Maybe it’s time to simplify my life and find some open space in which to breathe freely again.

13. I had a spiffing not-Thanksgiving (being Down Under) with home-made lamb rogan josh. I was particularly thankful to my very dear (USAnian) husband, who found a bottle of my favourite cheap French rose to go with it. We only ate one helping each, but we will be having leftovers, so I think the spirit of the holiday has been observed.

14. John,
    Thanks again for the lovely sunset photo, and in fact your entire series of Advent Thankfulness. And may I add my being thankful for the community of thought you have built in this blog, and to all those that contribute to it. Reading it is a wonderful part of my day.

    Greg,
    In my case it was Classic Coke. Thank you for expressing my thoughts so perfectly.