Wish I could write like TC

TC is a Lieutenant in the Bangor, Maine Police Department.  He writes their Facebook page with a flare that is second to none.

 His latest post contained some of the old standard hints for holiday shopping.  Most should be a given - like keeping your packages out of sight and not punching other shoppers over the latest toy because you will hate to have to Skype the kids from county jail on Christmas!  Cause sure as you give in to that urge to HAVE THAT TOY AT ANY COST  someone will whip out their phone, film it and send it to the police and  ruin your holiday (see comment regarding Skyping at Christmas)!

Drive through (carefully) a parking space rather than choosing one you have to back out of - and if you have to back up try to at least glance in those decorative mirrors on the sides of your car.  They are there for a reason.

But I think my favorite in today's post was his recommendation for wearing mittens.

 Middle fingers are not the best way to say, "Happy Holidays." Keep those things down low in the car. If you have a hard time keeping "the bird" to yourself-wear mittens. Mittens make the WOTB (waving of the bird) appear to be a friendly salutation or a "go ahead of me at the traffic-light" wave. Mittens will make you appear kinder.

Anything that makes us appear kinder (or even makes us be kinder) in the tumultuous world of today is worth sharing.

So if you have a hard time controlling your fingers?

Buy mittens!

The thing we don't have - edited a bit

Thanksgiving is traditionally all about being thankful for what we have.  Not a bad thing since most of us have friends and family, food in our stomachs, a roof over our head and a modicum of stability in our lives.

We have the choice of whether to have the 2.5 children along with the cat and the dog (or neither, or both) or instead to choose to focus on a job we love or a hobby that consumes us.  Even in today's not so perfect world a person has a ton of choices on what path to follow...

As a matter of fact you can even choose to be a follower if that is what, as they say, floats your boat!

I know that we don't live in a perfect country where we all get together and sing the same song.  We argue about everything up to and including which weather report is the most accurate.

So what don't we have?

Anyone telling us what to think.  We don't have someone saying "you can't think that" or "man, that's not a popular idea".  We are free to speak our minds or, even, choose to shut up!

I'm not sure exactly where I am going with this Thanksgiving post but I have to say that even when I am annoyed with the way the world is turning I know I am at liberty to say so.  Imagine living where there is metaphorical duct tape over your mouth!

This is still a free country, dammit!

And this would be the edit:

Saying that we live in a country where we are free to speak our minds comes, in my mind, with one caveat (a caveat is defined as a warning or proviso of specific stipulations, conditions, or limitations.

synonyms:

warning, caution, admonition;  proviso, condition, stipulation, provision, clause, rider, qualification)

It's fine to speak your mind but doing so in an abrasive, aggressive or abusive manner does nothing but anger others.  An angry person cannot hear anything but their own anger!

So, speak your mind in a way that may actually do some good and, if not that, at least makes your point without hurtful words.  One of the things that bothers me the most about today's communications is the apparent license to be just as offensive as you possibly can without regard for anyone else.

Hold your family close this Thanksgiving Day (remember "family" doesn't always mean "blood") and be thankful for what we don't have along with all the wonderful wonderful things that we do!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and remember to be keep your words as soft and sweet as possible cause you may just end up having to eat them!

As I am so fond of saying, you've got this!

But it might be winter

Definitely might be winter!

22 degrees here yesterday and now it's officially NOT Indian Summer any more.  My beautiful flowers- especially the Nasturtiums -

have been reduced to a yuckiness and so cold they froze my hands when I pulled them out of the gardens. Not to mention being slimy and hard to even get a grip on.

My volunteer sunflower which was doing so well sadly never got a chance to bloom.

I had thought the bird bath was just skimmed over with ice but when I dumped it out I found a big honkin slab of ice!  Past time to retire that for the winter for sure.

So, what's to do?

Bow to inevitable and get ready (more ready) for the next season.

In many ways this has been a hard summer and fall.  Too many "moments of silence" for innocents slaughtered and too much dissension among formerly close friends with different ideas of how to "fix" everything.  I stay away from politics most of the time here - at least partly because I'm not really qualified to "fix" anything and just tend to stand to one side and remain horrified at the things we do to each other.

So I focus on what I can hopefully have an impact on!

As in:  do you have that spare key securely stationed somewhere outside your house so when you inevitably lock yourself out this winter you can smugly stroll over, retrieve it and come in out of the cold?   And don't count on the world's battery backups for automatic doors - just don't!

I get to revisit some old favorites:  what will you do if you lose power?  What do you have for extra food in case you're unable to get out to the store? And how about your pet's food?  Is your car kept at least half full of fuel to avoid condensation in the tank and/or being "that guy" who runs out of gas at the absolute most inconvenient time?

Yup, I do tend to go on about the same things - sort of an endless loop of stuff that really needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.  Things that are easy to do ahead of time and harder than hell to try to accomplish if you are playing catch up from behind the eight ball.

I've noticed through life that the 8 ball never seems to be on level ground - just sayin!

So break out the winter coats, the long underwear, the doggy jackets

and whatever else makes you feel warm and fuzzy!

You've got this!