Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and a dragon

sunrise:  6:47

After several days of late nights and lazy sleep-ins, today's dawn arising was a challenge.  BUT - the morning is wonderful!  It's very nice to have the nudge of this idling blog to get me off to a good start.

Thanksgiving eve came with 8 inches of fresh snow.  Despite all my worries about travelers getting stuck or delayed or worse, everyone arrived on time and unscathed.  The worst driving was between here and the grocery store, which we managed without serious incident.

(this is actually an afternoon sun shot, but I couldn't resist including it)

What a lovely holiday, uncomplicated by religious affiliation or gift-giving.  My fervent hope is that Black Friday doesn't co-opt the Thanksgiving holiday any more than it already does.  It was an unsettling thing to hear a Canadian visitor's innocent statement about our Thanksgiving holiday two nights ago:

"What is Canadian Thanksgiving like?" someone asked her.

"It's just like American Thanksgiving, but without Black Friday."

Ugh!  It makes me want to initiate a movement to ban Black Friday.  Pretty soon people will be leaving Thanksgiving dinner in the dust so they can get a place in line outside of Walmart (in fact, I think it's already happening).

The premise of Thanksgiving is so worthy of preservation - friends and family gathering together, preparing food, sitting down to a shared meal, appreciating their good fortune.  What could be better than that?  Leave merchandise out of it, please!

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We watched "How to Train Your Dragon" this weekend.  S and T had long since told us that the lead character dragon reminded them of our dog Kate.  I have to agree.  Here is Kate looking kind of like that black Night Fury dragon named "Toothless."

november sky

sunrise:  6:31

I have no explanation for the occasional periods of elation that overflow the banks of my internal reservoir. Someone wisely suggested once that I stop seeking an explanation, and just enjoy the flood.

november scenery

sunrise:  7:18 ....  and tomorrow it will be 6:20!  don't forget to set your clocks.

Just a few photos from today's brisk November morning---

Here comes the sun...

I don't often get Clara, Guster, and Kate all in one frame.  Here they are.

Clara after a drink from the pond.  Notice the cattails gone to seed...

Cool hunk of wood.

Kate looking a bit dragon-like.

occupy sunrise - 100%

Some of the best things about sunrise:

It costs nothing - 100% free.

It is available everywhere, to everyone, a global asset -- 100% inclusion.

Barring a world-ending super-nova, it will never run out - 100% dependable.

It instills serenity - 100% peace.

Like so many others, I have been trying to get a clear sense of this occupy movement, gaining momentum and rallying frustrated people together.

They are finding their way, and so far, it has been mostly a positive movement as far as I can see.  Frustrated people need an outlet.  With so many things awry in our society, hopelessness can become a poison, so this activism is a healthy response.  Keep it up, I say!  But...don't let it become infused by irrational bitterness.

There's one part of the occupy thing that doesn't sit well with me.  This whole "we are the 99%" thing doesn't feel quite right.  I bet that there are many of those 1%-ers who are thoroughly behind the occupy-ers.  They are happy to be taxed more, they give inordinate amounts of their wealth back to society, at the same time that their business interests are thriving and feeding the economy.

And I bet that there are plenty of people in the 80 to 99% group who belong in the category of those who misuse privilege and cheat the system, becoming richer at the expense of others.

Yes - let's go after big corporate corruption.  Yes - let's hold banks more accountable.  Yes -  go ahead and tax capital gains at a higher rate, and close loopholes that allow fat cats to pay no taxes.  But come up with a new rallying cry.  There are surely great allies to the occupy movement who are part of the 1%.  Let's not demonize our allies, or give others a free pass because they're below the 99th percentile.

If we let our focus get too honed in on some mythical 1% of the US population, those evildoers who are screwing the rest of the country, then the movement will go astray.

Our efforts should be to find what is fair and just and right for 100% of the people.  Part of finding that will mean correcting a bunch of things, so let's focus on the things - corporations, public policies, laws, state and federal taxation - not on individual people.

Here is something to reflect upon:

Occupy sunrise.  Stop every now and then, and be sure to think clearly.  Take a moment and embrace the entire 100%.  It is a better goal.