Yesterday, as my husband and I drove the uncongested highways leading to NC's beautiful coast, I connected to all I'm grateful for this Thanksgiving. Family, friends, studio mates, a quick recovery from knee surgery, good health, the incredible neighborhoods I live and work in, and a lifelong passion for clay that has sustained and satisfied my creative needs for over forty years. I'm grateful for living in this time of indoor plumbing, automated electric kilns, grocery stores, online recipes, and mangos in January. Our modern world offers us so much. Many of us live like kings and queens. It's a fantastic time to be a human. It's also a stormy time in a scary world. I keep reminding myself to look to the light by giving others the benefit of the doubt and being kind. I don't always succeed, but every failure is a new commitment to the goal.
I love Thanksgiving because of its focus on gratitude, family, and abundance. Cooking and sharing time together in harmony with your community. I forsake the commercialism that tries to steal the holiday away, pushing me towards Christmas before I'm ready. I say this while glazing Christmas ornaments between baking pies and visiting Beaufort friends. I also cherish that it's a time for eating orange food: butternut squash soup, pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, and sweet mangos.
