It's now something of a tradition, to sit in this place on Thanksgiving Day, after all have gone to sleep, and write for this place some words. To the extent that doing this honors anything, I would like to honor it now - this tradition has become quite personal to me, as personal as this foolish name I wear so proudly.

The holiday encourages meditation on the things that feed our soul, and there are many. I am thankful... good fortune still brings me many marvelous things. For example, if someone reads these words, that's a marvel in and of itself.

It seems it's a hard year, however, to find those things that feed me; I see that also in the ones around me. So few are doing each day what makes them great, what they want to do; so many are worried that what they do will not be enough to simply keep them whole. So many more things are coming apart this year than there are things coming together, and for a change, I'm not seeing myself wholly on the side of the healers.

There's so much around that's still good every day, despite this miasma that surrounds us. Despite the fact that I've written of late of no new brilliancies at all, this doesn't mean they're not out there, and it does not mean that I don't notice.

As this day trickles to its closing moments, and the clock reaches to the mark that I set to speak here again, I lack a way to summarize them all, I lack the hook to bring this all together. It's a sign of the times, I suppose, that I find my budget running out somewhat short of my goals.

But my readers, I'm sure, understand what I'm saying. They know what small things that I mean. They surround us all, and I am reminded with every bent rib, small smile, or eye roll. Hearing ladies speak of their appreciation for a bicep, reading of fresh chances opening up, scenting the small trace elements that remind us that a place is home.

Understanding pomegranate juice; tasting again of persimmons.

Even when times are bizarre and out of joint, and the people and places on which we spend our days are not quite what we'd make them be... there's brilliance.

For that - and for you - I'm thankful.