– By Tom Garrison –

Each November. I compose a “Thanksgiving Thankful List” for the preceding year. My wife, Deb, and I enjoy our life in red rock southern Utah and have many things for which we are thankful. I hope sharing them brings a smile and acknowledgement that even the seldom thought of can be a source of thankfulness. Below is my 2024 list.

1. I’m thankful for call blocking. The phone rings, you pick it up and say, “hello.” No one answers and you hear muffled noise in the background, people talking on phones. Then, maybe five, or even ten seconds later, someone says in a thickly accented voice, “Is this Mr. Garrison?” Who else is gonna be answering our (Deb and I) landline phone? I know enough to not say “yes” because the “yes” can be recorded and used in an altered tape to make it seem you said “yes” to a lot of questions, like do you want to buy some useless piece of junk.

I quickly figure this is a scam, hang up, and block the number. Since Deb and I began blocking scam numbers about two years ago, we now have 71 blocked numbers. We used to get four or five scam calls a week, now it is maybe one or two a month. If scammers had any sense, they would hire people who spoke English in a clear professional manner, cut out the background noise, and be more subtle about getting a “yes” answer. I’m thankful they are not that smart.

2. I’m thankful for rubber bands. Got a bunch of items, say pencils, and you need to keep them corralled—put a rubber band around them. It works for many things, except marbles. You really can’t put a rubber band around marbles.
3. I’m glad soil amendments exist. Southwest Utah has crappy soil and gardening is an adventure. The soil, without amendment, is deficient in many minerals and has very little organic material. Ever find a worm in natural, non-amended, southwest Utah soil? Worms love decomposing material and add their own to the mix. Unless you’re digging in a riparian environment, the answer is no. Deb and I take gardening seriously. We have three pomegranate bushes, two plum trees, two pear trees, two blackberry vines, four grape vines, a strawberry patch, several asparagus plants, and lots of veggies in the spring and summer.
4. I’m grateful for household running water. Have you ever had the house water turned off? No running water out of faucets, no flushing toilets, no showers. It seems like a simple thing until you do without. Civilization is built upon household running water.
5. The English language is flexible, and that’s a good thing. I’ve taken to saying, “I’m going to ingest nutrients” instead of “I’m going to eat.” Deb knows what I’m saying, and other people quickly understand when I use my new favorite phrase. Not only is the phrase accurate, it sets me apart from the “foodies” who love to eat and go on and on about food. I don’t much care about food, for me it is “ingesting nutrients.”
6. Most folks, especially those without the critters, think cats are pretty much alike. I’m thankful they have different personalities. Our two, Bob and Willa, are very different. For example, Bob, an orange tabby, loves to have his chest and belly scratched and rubbed. Willa, a grey tabby with a lot of white, will rip your face off with her razor sharp claws if you try to touch her belly.

On the other hand, Bob is very afraid of strangers, even people he has seen dozens of times. Willa will approach anyone and rub against their leg asking for pets. It’s best to not get complacent when you have cats in the family.

7. I’m thankful for time. Without time, asking, “What time is it?” is a nonsense question. Without time, all the guys and gals who teach time management classes would be unemployed. Without time, the Rolling Stones great song, “Time is on My Side” would not have been written or sung. On the plus side, without time no one would ever be late. If time did not exist, everything would happen at once, very confusing.

I hope everyone recalls the many things, obvious and not so obvious, to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

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