Thanksgiving | The Odd and Unmentionable

(Photos courtesy of Sharon Kelly and JuneauEmpire.com)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I may be the last one to have seen this news story but was so touched by it that I had to put it up again anyway.

Four young Sitka deer got into trouble swimming through rough and frigid waters off the Alaska coast. Exhausted and hypothermic they evidently spotted a charter boat sailing nearby and swam over to circle it, looking for some way to climb up out of the water.

The local family on board were amazed and sprang into action to pull the four up on the deck where they immediately collapsed. By the time they reached land one deer was recovered enough to jump into the water and swim to shore by itself, two had to be coaxed but eventually made it to the woods, and one was still too weak to move.

So they loaded it into a wheelbarrow and rolled it up the dock to shore where they remained with it for a few hours until the deer could finally stand, wobbling but unassisted.

It’s an extraordinary story that once again breaks down some of the barriers we tend to build in our heads about what animal/human interactions and relationships can be like. What particularly fascinated me was that the owner of the boat is a hunter but didn’t feel right about taking these deer. I suspect he was responding to that deep instinct most of us have that we’re not allowed to harm something that has come to us for help.

The entire family was reportedly delighted and moved by the experience, considering it a gift. In other words, they were grateful, thus earning their experience a respected place as a story worthy of Thanksgiving.

May this day be filled with the same for all of us…generosity, compassion, gratitude, and just a wee bit of magic.

copyright Dia Osborn 2012

Part of this year’s harvest.

Thanksgiving is on Thursday so naturally I’ve started thinking about what I’m most grateful for this year. (Or any year for that matter.) I thought I’d try for at least the top ten here:

1) Thank you for my life. (This is always number one because the fact that I’m still alive after 53 years is nothing short of amazing to me. For however long it lasts, thank you thank you thank you.)

2) Thank you for starlight, waters, storms, mountain vistas, seasons, and the hikes I’ve taken through all of them.

3) Thank you for things I can’t control. I hate them but I know they’re good for me.

4) Thank you for yogurt.

5) Thank you for the hubster, beloved son, and beloved daughter, as well as giving them the patience to love me back when I’ve made it hard.

6) Thank you for Dane’s epilepsy cure and helping him to still be able to walk after all. I was so scared for him.

7) Thank you for this blog and the chance to have a voice.

8) Thank you for all the help and support from people over the last year. In fact, thanks for all people everywhere. Doing this whole life-thing alone would have really sucked.

9) Thank you for the depression easing up so much. I can’t tell you how good it feels to be hopeful again.

10) And lastly, thank you for both light and darkness. Having both helps keep everything in perspective, y’know?

Here’s wishing everyone a meaningful Thanksgiving full of love and healing.

More of the harvest. Yum!