Happy Thanksgiving 2013

Today is a beautiful day on Laurel Lane.

I slept in until 9:00 am. Ahhhhh….

We went for a walk along the OC Promenade.

Mom marching bravely across the catwalk over Hwy 99E.

 Snazzy new WARM jacket from REI.

 Yes, it really is this pretty here today.

 Check out Dorothy's cool painting of this scene.

I made a pumpkin roll from this recipe.
I calculated the points using the Weight Watcher's e-tools.
It will be 8 points for one slice.
Totally worth it.

Mom is making a pan of homemade lasagne from scratch.

I will make some of my delicious and beautiful single-serving green salads, and Mom is also making a squash-and-apple dish.

Turkey? Nope, not this year. Keepin' it simple.

At dessert we'll read our annual Thanksgiving poems. Mark and Mom have written theirs, but I haven't seen them yet. I'm giving you a sneak preview of mine.

This year my poem is a sonnet (again), which makes me happy. The first lines of the first two stanzas came to me in a dream last night, and I actually remembered them when I woke up this morning. I wrote the poem out longhand before I typed it. I like writing poetry longhand because it slows my thoughts down. Writing longhand lets me access different places inside me.

I Would Not Be

I would not be a stagnant pond—

algae-bound, where fish must grope for air—

though still and sure, complacent, always found

the same. There is no freedom there.

Oh make of me a heaving sea, a froth

of foam, a cauldron surging round its depth and height

that feeds its citizens with life, a broth

of air that fosters hope and joy and life.

God, make me lively, sensitive to all

the subtle senses of the unquiet soul,

that listens in the breath between the fall

of leaves, and silent seeds that rest in soil.

Awaken me to every moment’s birth:

Alert to daily miracles that crowd this spinning earth.

Hazard Canyon, central California coast, Dec 2006

Happy Thanksgiving 2013, dear blog friends! I'm so happy to be here on the planet with YOU!