Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Charley, age 3 months
Thanksgiving  1997

I am on the mainland spending an extended Thanksgiving weekend away from my dogs and cat.  I don't usually travel on holiday weekends (Okay, I don't usually travel. Period.), but with an extra couple of days on one side and an extra day on the other side, I decided to take the chance on ferry travel and lunatic drivers.  It was worth it.

I am thankful that I have a great petsitter,  Barb at Cool Critters Pet Sitting, who stays at my home, keeps my critters on their usual routines, and posts updates for me via facebook.  She's the best!

I am thankful that my brother, daughter, cousin, and family friend all took time out of their busy lives to meet me in downtown Vancouver for lunch on Friday.  And as much as I hate big cities (no, I didn't drive in from the Fraser Valley where I'm staying - I took the trainbus and West Coast Express), I'm thankful for the opportunity to take some totally different photographs from my usual fare:

I had to ask Vancouverites what this was.
It's a typical West Coast Raindrop, of course!
They grow them BIG here!

 I'm thankful for municipal workers with a sense of humour.  At the West Coast Express train station there are the typical signs everywhere to stand behind the yellow line.  But the sign that drew our attention was in white just below it (I couldn't get it all in the photo - see caption):

Stand as far back as you'd stand from
your boss before their morning coffee

I'm thankful for my terrific friends Ann and Ken who turn over part of their home to me every time I visit - my own mini suite complete with a little kitchen for that midnight snack or early morning coffee.  And who feed me amazing meals that just seem to appear each time I turn around.  I sleep like a log, eat like a queen, and laugh like life is every bit as fun as it was intended to be. 

Ann beside the Raindrop

I am thankful for an afternoon spent with Emma and her dad at Albert Dyke Park, where I got to watch Emma doing what she loves best - swimming - and tossing her stick for her to retrieve.  At nearly ten, she is still going strong, albeit with a few more aches and pains.   I forgot to take my camera that day, but here's one her dad sent to me this summer of her having some water fun.

Emma having fun!

I am thankful I have enough money for some retail therapy at my favourite Abbotsford thrift store for clean quality near-new clothes (seven new-to-me  tops and a pair of pants for under $25!) and still enough money left over for the ferry ride home.  And thankful for the drop in the price of gas - $1.14/litre after months of it being in the 1.30s.    There is a Gas Goddess. 

I'm thankful for the people who have entered my life - who have mentored me, loved me, and helped me to grow - those who have passed and those who are still part of my circle of love. I would not be who I am without them.

I am thankful for reputable rescues that have helped so many local critters, like Hearts on Noses Mini Pig Sanctuary where I am headed today.  I am especially thankful for the long line of critters who found their way to my home. My life has been so much richer for it.

And yes, Excitable Anxious Annoying Eddie, I am even thankful for you.

Annoying?  Who Me?  

And, of course, I'm thankful I live in a beautiful place, in relative peace and safety,  unlike millions who live in poverty, in war, in terror.  I live in just a small part of a very big universe, but I am thankful to live in the very best part.

I am thankful.