LIVING OUT
BY SALLY SHEK LOW
Thanksgiving 2016
A COLUMN IN VERSE
E
ach year in November I’ve come to expect
That I’ll stop and take time to tune in and reflect
On the myriad reasons I’m grateful this year
And give thanks for how lucky I am to be here
The Shedd Institute
www.theshedd.org - 541.434.7000
The John G. Shedd
Institute for the Arts
Shedd
Theatricals
2016
I note my good fortune of being alive
With all of the basics one needs to survive
Clean water and air, a safe home and good food
Plus someone to cuddle when I’m in the mood
I wake up each day in a comfortable bed
With a wife and two cats (who would like to be fed)
Where I’m warm and secure, just how lucky is that?
I really am fortunate (“NOW!” says the cat.)
I’m thankful for clothing, my sweatshirt and pants
To wear to the kitchen where kitty-cats dance
And weave ’round my legs as I’m filling their dishes
Devoting myself to fulfilling their wishes
The cats turn their focus to eating their food
(More snarfed up and swallowed than actually chewed)
I stop and give thanks for adorable pets
I love our two cats (with a few small regrets)
I’m terribly thankful and grateful indeed
To have all the stuff one could possibly need
A loving companion, a circle of friends
My things-to-be-thankful-for list never ends
I put on the kettle and get out the tea
And cook up some oatmeal for Wifey and me
I chop up an apple, and also a pear
And squeeze on some honey from our honey bear
We sit at the table, just me and my bride
(’Though I have to get up to let kitties outside)
We savor our food and while wiping my chin
I get up again to let kitties back in
It’s good to give thanks for the things I enjoy
Like plenty of lettuce and kale and bok choy
Our CSA basket that’s healthy and green
Supports local farmers and keeps my guts clean
Irving Berlin’s 1946
Annie Get
Your Gun
December 2 nd to 18 th
The Shedd Institute
Tickets: 541.434.7000
www.theshedd.org
Out on my walk I give thanks I can cruise
Three miles an hour in my good walking shoes
I’m thankful for life, for a functioning body
For not stepping where someone’s dog has gone potty
I’m thankful, today, as I walk through my ’hood
That it’s easy and fun to get out like I should
I notice what’s growing, what’s ripe and what’s spent
While my heart rate goes well over 60 percent
A Jazz Kings Christmas at The Shedd 2016
I notice the crows and the jays in the trees
The killdeer on rooftops and cute chickadees
I’m thankful for time in the natural world
For genetics that make my hair naturally curled
I’m giving my thanks that despite the election
Our work still goes on in the other direction
Toward saving our planet and heeding the call
Toward freedom and peace and respect for us all
Thanksgiving is more than a day in November
It’s taking the time to take stock and remember
That life is worth living, despite all the flap
(Which I say with two pussycats curled on my lap).
Award-winning writer Sally Sheklow is thankful for having a spot in Eugene Weekly since 1999.
Happy Holiday
Thu, Dec 8, 7:30 pm
Sun, Dec 11, 3:00 pm
Wed, Dec 13 Corvallis
Thu, Dec 14 Florence
Tickets 541.434.7000
theshedd.org
eugeneweekly.com • November 23, 2016
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