a puzzling holiday

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.

We are in the process of cooking the center-piece of this favorite of holidays. Today's dinner will be slow-roasted prime rib with cabernet au jus, citrus balsamic Brussels sprouts, minted peas and onions, and mashed potatoes -- all topped off by apple pie.

Our family gathering has been reduced to four as a result of our untimely winter storm. My niece Kaitlyn and her boyfriend Moon are stuck in Seattle. That leaves my mother, brother, sister-in-law and me to enjoy our time together.

Even though dinner is the main event to share our day together, there have been plenty of other diversions. All of them that tend to the traditional. An NBA game (last night). Documentaries on television (the Paradise forest fire; the rivalry between Ferrari and Ford). And competitive jigsaw puzzles. The last is something we have done for holiday gatherings since I was in grade school -- where my brother and I early learned to hide one piece to have the honor of finishing the picture.

We have also talked about why we are gathering today. What we are thankful for this year.

Mind you, we have not been indulging in those cliché-driven exercises that tend to hollow out the very essence of thankfulness. Our process is far more subtle.

We discuss topics of interest to each of us and share what we have learned over the past year. Even though our family thrives on politics, it simply was not a matter of discussion.

As I pointed out earlier, we are thankful for the good and the bad that has come to us over the past year, because each of those events has given us an opportunity to grow. Or, at least, to better understand why we are taking this fascinating journey through life.

For some reason, I woke up at 3:30 this morning. I suspect I was excited about the presents under the Thanksgiving tree that Tom Turkey left for me.

Because I could not sleep, I turned on my telephone. The first posting I saw on Facebook was from Debrorah Cook. She lives in San Miguel de Allende and is an occasional commenter here.

She raised an interesting question about Thanksgiving. It is almost impossible to talk about thankfulness without touching on people who are less fortunate and how we try to assist them as best we can. She noted: "We all kinda look for redemption with ourselves ... maybe with others, no?"

It is a fair question. Charity can be a good in itself. Certainly to the recipient. But it is fair to ask what motivates us. Deborah's comment comes close to one interpretation of Paul's admonition to "work out your salvation." Or "redemption" as Deborah writes.

When charity is discussed, I always like to ask another question. Is my charity hurting or is it helping? That is an essay in itself. But, I pass it along on this holiday of thankfulness.

So, I have no photographs of a dinner not-yet-cooked. What I will share with you is a photograph Christy took. That is Darrel, Mom, and me. Putting together a new jigsaw puzzle.

Please note, no one has palmed a puzzle piece.

And, for that, I am thankful.