Thanks

We’re at the Big Day for gratitude here in the United States. In the world, we’re also in kind of a parlous state—two kinetic wars; natural disasters—volcanic eruptions, flooding, dangerously high temperatures, hurricanes—induced by climate change; financial markets in conniptions; global rise in fascism and authoritarianism (including here, getting a boost from our native racism, misogyny and evangelical ignorance) and religious bigotry; food insecurity for millions in every country on earth (with the possible exception of Switzerland; they don’t let that kind of thing in); and a lot of other things I’ve no doubt missed.

And—of course—the turmoil at OpenAI. Because that apparently is the harbinger of some calamitous catastrophe.

What to do? What to do?

Well—be grateful for the many blessings, large and small, that get me through the day. So, in no particular order, viz:

I have pretty good health insurance, even though I’m paying a hefty premium through COBRA. Because of my first knee replacement surgery (in January), I met my deductible by April, so through the end of the year, I have no co-pays.

But I do have good doctors.

Also—those knee replacements are da bomb. On my recent trip, I walked miles and miles every day, including up and down stairs and hills in Dubrovnik and Sarajevo. I realized a few days in that I didn’t need any NSAIDS, much less anything stronger for pain. Imagine—pain free mobility!

I am not, in fact, in the middle of a kinetic war, although we all are caught in cyber wars and need to be better prepared for the attacks that come. I can go to the library, take a walk, work in the garden without fear of being targeted by a sniper. I also do not live 24/7 with the pounding of artillery, mortars and air strikes. My water, gas and electricity do not experience outages because the mains have been blown up. Grocery store shelves are pretty well stocked; supply chains are holding and we can get products from around the world.

I'm deeply grateful that our president has helped facilitate a ceasefire in Gaza. I hope that it leads to something good in that territory of misery and despair.

I have access to several library systems and so far the RWNJ Christo-fascists have not banned books in any of them. (Although it’s early days yet.) I have access to a spectrum of ideas and it’s up to me to ingest, vet and act on them wisely.

Although I am currently between gigs, I have a financial cushion. Scores of thousands who’ve been affected by 15 months of tech layoffs are not as lucky. I even have a little bit to donate to Media Matters to help them defend themselves from Elmo’s big-graveyard-full-of-my-enemies SLAPP action.

Speaking of legal affairs, so far the justice system seems to be holding up against the onslaught by Republicans at all levels. SCOTUS needs a good cleansing and there are all those appointees made by the Kleptocrat when he was in office, but with some notable exceptions, progress is being made in the prosecution of those who’ve tried to overthrow the government in the past three years. I worry about what happens in the next presidential election, but so far Gen Z gives me hope that we may be okay.

Also—God bless Taylor Swift.

Without a doubt, there is so much that’s wrong in this world, in this country and in our lives. So it’s a good thing that we take some time to celebrate the things that are right and good. I wish that 

And thus I’m also grateful for this season’s colors.