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Be Thankful Because…

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to reflect on everything we’re thankful for in our lives, no matter how big or small. It’s a time for family traditions to take center stage. Turkey, stuffing, festive fall colors, pumpkin pie, and football. Being thankful for one another is how Thanksgiving got its start after all. Personally, I yearn for the sweet juicy turkey and all of those delicious side dishes that go along with it. It’s what many folks look forward to all over the world, all year long. The Thanksgiving feast is truly a feast to rival them all. But it goes far beyond stuffing our stomachs, it’s also our basic needs; shelter, family, and friends. Since life is filled with struggles, trials, and tribulations, it’s easy to hold those things as the focus of our thoughts. Word to the wise.

Be thankful that you don’t have everything you desire because that gives you something to look forward to.

Be thankful when you don’t know something because that gives you incentive to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times because they provide opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge because it will build strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes because they teach valuable lessons.

Be thankful for setbacks because without them we can’t move forward.

Be thankful for your troubles because they can become your blessings.

Be thankful because.

Happy Thanksgiving!

AL Abstraction Effect

California usually brings to mind crowds of cities and beaches packed end to end with an unbroken tide of humanity, each struggling vainly to claim six square feet of sun. For me, California is something else- small communities strung out along the coastline like pearls on a string, each with it’s own unique personality and flavor. There are times when you can walk out to the shore and it’s only you, the gulls, and the cold, salty spray of the ocean as it stings against your skin.

Fire Patrol

There is a scar upon the land, ugly and black. The dead fingers of incinerated trees point accusingly at the sky as if accusing the heavens themselves of some dark and unspeakable crime. The smell of their burnt trunks lies heaving in the air, a reminder of the enormity of what has happened here. But soon new shoots of green will spike up through the ash, and the animals will return. Death will turn to life, as sure as winter turns to spring.

Out To Pasture

There is a calmness in the evenings that seem to bind the land to the creatures that walk upon it. As the sun lowers its glowing mane of light behind distant peaks and valleys, we set aside the cares of the day. We’ll worry again tomorrow, but for the moment it’s simply good enough to watch as a horse or cow noses its way through the grass. Soon it will be dark, and then the Earth and the animals upon it will sleep, but for now, the pasture is our stage, and all of us, bovine, equine, or human, are content to play our part.

  • Allan Lacoste

Mystical Fire

Prometheus brought us the gift of fire, but what was fire if not the beating heart of the gods? It is the crimson flame that drives us forward. It is the destroyer that brings life. Forests die not because of fire, but because we prevent fires where they should by all rights occur. Nature relies on the cycle of destruction and rebirth and has since time beyond thought. But fire must be controlled, and therein lies the dichotomy.