Featured, Thorn's Blog
Wet Turkey
Counting your blessings today? I am. Here I am at Catalina Island with a turkey that did not receive a Presidential pardon. ( I’m the one with the beard. Disregard the title of the novel which has been renamed Almost Avalon and will be in print this spring.)
I was twenty one, living alone on my boat, and this photo was taken by a retired couple who came over from Marina Del Rey in their Grand Banks yacht to spend Thanksgiving in Cat Harbor. It was the first Thanksgiving I ever spent without family or friends, and had the potential for being a very lonely time. When the couple, who moored about thirty yards from me (I am seen here on the deck of my dive boat) saw that I was alone, they put together a plate of hot turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffings and trimmings and made the pilgrimage in a little row boat over to see me.
I showed them my pet lobster and they took the picture, later sending it to me from the mainland after they got it developed.
It was a stark and beautiful Thanksgiving. I had nothing, except for everything. I was as one with my loneliness, and when you are empty, the beauty of all that is natural can fill you. If you feel the world is empty, if you feel the sky is empty, simply hoist a sail and catch the invisible wind and it will fill you, and the sail, with beauty and power and direction, as it did for me that day. I was in awe of all that I had to be grateful for.
Today is not unlike that Thanksgiving, which was so powerful all other Thanksgiving days blurred into one and have no distinction. My vessel now is the loft that many of you helped to create. When I finish posting this, I intend to walk the four blocks to the beach, and look to the northwest, where I can see Catalina Island.
My spirit will hoist sail, and be filled by the blessings of this incredible year, when all of you came into my life, told your stories, shared them with others and we became a tribe.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all
love
thorn
grateful-for-all-these-unexpected-blessings-in-chief
Thorn, Its good to hear that your back isn’t hurting so badly that you can walk that far to pay tribute to that long ago memory.
This site was created at a time when I desperately needed something I could do at home that would fill both my heart and my mind from dwelling on hard, unexpected circumstances that have caused our “retirement years” to take a completely different turn from those we had planned. Yet, I already knew that change is the only real thing in this life that we can count on. Nevertheless…along came Thorn and his mid life crisis, A Word With You Press, and with him, all of you kind and wonderful writers who I have come to know-some of you better than others. I have encountered nothing from any of you except kindness and encouragement which I so appreciate.
Life’s dark valleys pass just like all the rest of life and weave themselves into the fabric of who we are, and today with most of our family around us, we thank God particularly for them, but also for that other family or “tribe” so far away, yet as close as the computer keys. I want to thank you for your acceptance and pray that each of you, like Thorn and I, can look around and know that what looks like “emptiness” is an illusion and that we are blessed way beyond what we deserve, recognizing that “dark valleys” are something we go through, as some writer said, “not some place we call home.”
I am sure that all of you join me in thinking about all of our young servicemen and women so far from home to day who are protecting us as we enjoy this tradition started so long ago.
As always, Peggy Dobbs
Mid life crisis? Moi? I didn’t think I was halfway there yet! You’re the one in mid life crisis, finally discovering that you want to be a writer (and doing a very convincing job of it)
Mad life crisis more likely.
Are you calling me and the rest of the group his mid-life crisis, Peggy? Rest assured, it’ll be a while before you see the damage I can really wreak! =D
*huggles* Happy Thanksgiving, Peggy! And yes, I think about our servicemembers…especially since my cousin Ralph is one of them now =D
I can’t believe how very fortunate I am to have stumbled on this incredible group of creative and friendly people. Thanks to all for letting me join in the fun.
I am thankful.
I’m grateful that you guys gave me a home in Oceanside and here in cyberspace. And I’m grateful for each and every one of you. So, for the umpteenth time, thank you guys for making this the best year of my life <3
…I'm guessing lobster tail isn't going to be on the menu today?
pet lobster? that thing’s a moose!
I remember seeing the book years ago. I’m thinking it was on a shelf at the Santa Barbara’s chandlery, where I picked it up during one of the million times I had to shop for a part my anemic sailboat desperately needed. Now, to realize the two Thorns are the same is interesting: Interest accured from the past, and this new interest about the editor-in-chief.
I am thankful I’m getting to know the two of you.