Much To Be Thankful For

Across the Fence #366

Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is the time to give thanks for all that we’ve been blessed with. This Across the Fence column certainly falls into that category for me. It’s a privilege to visit across the fence with you each week. I realize how lucky I am to be able to write a column that runs in newspapers where people can actually read it. Many writers would give their right arm for such an opportunity. Fortunately, I’m left handed! A big mange tussen takk (many thousand thanks) to all of you!

This begins the eighth year of “Across the Fence.” I keep looking down into the well to see if it’s running dry. Luckily, there haven’t been any droughts yet, and after a little priming of the pump, I’m able to pull up enough thoughts and words to fill another column. I’m always thankful for readers who help prime my pump by giving me ideas and topics to write about. It’s appropriate that the anniversary of this column falls during Thanksgiving week each year. It’s the perfect time to thank everyone.

My thanks again to Richard Brockman, publisher of the Linn News-Letter in Central City, Iowa, and Dorothy Jasperson-Robson, Editor of the Westby Times in Westby, Wisconsin, for providing a “door of opportunity” for me. I was able to open and walk through that door eight years ago, and start writing this column.

A special thank you to everyone who visits with me each week. I appreciate when I hear from you, whether it’s on the street, by letter, or over the Internet. Your comments help keep me going and energized.

Not only is this Thanksgiving week, but it’s also the deer gun season in Wisconsin. Thousands of orange-clad hunters will be roaming the woods and fields in search of that elusive trophy buck. I wish you all a safe and successful hunt. We had lots of snow on the ground a week ago that would have made for great tracking, but it’s all gone now.

I wasn’t sorry to see it melt. It’s just too early for winter to arrive. I’m still trying to get over the notion that those beautiful fall days are behind us and cold, snow-filled days lie ahead. It gets to be a mighty long winter when there’s snow on the ground from early November into April. Now we can get a new start on the snow, hopefully after Thanksgiving. Mid-December would be a fine time for the next snowfall. The older I get the more I dread the long winters, especially the sub-zero temperatures. On the flip side of that coin, I’ve got to admit, the countryside was beautiful with that new white coat.

The moon was full last week and reflected off the snow. It gave the night landscape a special brightness. It was the type of night that made for many great cross-country skiing experiences over the years. There’s something special about gliding over the snow on a moonlit night. The snow glistens and sparkles like it’s filled with diamonds. It’s very exhilarating and makes you thankful to be alive and able to enjoy it. I’ve said many times, that snow softens the sharp edges of the world and brightens, even the darkest corners. Even a long, cold winter has its good points.

That reminds me of a note I got from a reader last winter in response to a story. He said, “All the seasons had their good & bad points. You are so right in describing the warm glow in the kitchen as we would walk up from the barn on a dark January night. We’d stop to carry an armload of wood, while on our way in. Then of course there’s the prideful feeling of working so hard making hay all day in the summer, and seeing the cows walk out to the pasture after milking, knowing mom had food on the stove, waiting for us when we finished milking. I so wish my boys could have had those wonderful experiences that I did. I’m sure that nothing has shaped my life more than growing up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin.”

Another reader wrote that when she’s driving in the pre-dawn or evening hours and sees the warm glow from lights in barns and houses around the countryside, it makes her feel as if all's right in the world.”

Both of those reader’s comments carry a message of hope and thankfulness. There’s much that is right in this world if we just look around us. Most of the time it’s the little things that mean the most. It’s the things that money can’t buy.

I know I’ve mentioned this before. A friend once told me he enjoyed my column because it reminded him of a box of chocolates… you never know what you’re going to get each week. Many of you have said you enjoy the positive stories, when so much of the news we hear and read about today is negative. I’ll keep trying to stir up good memories with positive stories for you, provide a mix of chocolates to give you some variety, and also make you think about this wonderful world we’re all a part of.

I look forward to meeting you here each week, “Across the Fence.” Until next time, I hope you have a great Thanksgiving.

*