From Thanksgiving in Spain

I'm grateful for holidays. Those special days strewn about the year that give us permission to pause and gather together to appreciate, reflect and enjoy. They are special because of the creative and meaningful celebrations, songs, decorations and food that we associate only with this one day. They are steeped in tradition which inherently brings along with it all the love, memories and specialness from years and generations that have come before. And they set a rhythm to the year like a steady heartbeat with all the assuredness that it will come and go and then come again. Like the waves on the shore, the changing of the leaves, the daffodils popping out of the ground, the first ripe apples. We wait in eager anticipation, we enjoy when it's here, and we let it go willingly when the time is right; all because we trust it will come again in due time.  

And I like that it gives us an easy opportunity to practice those moral qualities that may or may not have been swept by the wayside. Being inspired to show more gratitude, share more love, forgive more mistakes, have more trust, believe more goodness and be more connected to all those living beings that surround our lives every day can only do good things for our crazy lives we live in a often times crazy world.

Walking on the beach a little ways from where we park the van we found a Buddhist monk. Turns out there is a monastery just around the corner. Love that. 

This is the first Thanksgiving I have not celebrated with my family in New England. It feels so odd to wake up to another normal day, people going to work (or striking...because, well, I'm in Spain), going to school , grocery shopping, etc. etc. Spain has many holidays and festivals and so it's very clear to tell when it is or when it isn't a holiday and by all signs today one would think it most certainly isn't a holiday. But yet deep in my bones I have that rhythm that tells me this is Thanksgiving. It's not cold, a cranberry not anywhere to be found and there are palm trees. But it's Thanksgiving. Jota and I will be celebrating in the "Christmas Story" fashion; aka, we're going to a Chinese restaurant that will be open and has wifi. Not exactly the usual menu, but certainly has that quality of out-of-the-ordinary specialness that makes it sort of feel like a holiday. And we will be skyping (BIG gratitude in this moment to modern technology!) and watching our New England relatives chow down on all my favorites - squash soup with a dollop of yogurt, stuffing with gravy, apple pie..... 

Cheers to my fam that pulled together a pretty amazing Thanksgiving-in-September so we could all celebrate my favorite holiday before going back to Spain. And that cranberry sauce is homemade - right from the family cranberry gathering to the eating and everything in between....the butternut squash too!

On another note, here's to hoping that our van is all fixed up. She's been visiting with the mechanic the last two days. I thought maybe, just maybe, its extra good luck we're picking her up on Thanksgiving.

Happy happy day to everyone. Wishing you hearts full of love and bellies full of goodness.

xo