30 Things I'm Thankful For: Day 30

I'm thankful that I have so many people and experiences and things to be thankful for.

It's a wonderful life!

(Twelve Days of Christmas, anyone?)

30 Things I'm Thankful For: Day 29

A job.

I know I complain about it.

And lately it has been stressfully busy.

But I work with good people and it is interesting work.

30 Things I'm Thankful For: Day 28

Art. 

(This is in Chicago, can't remember the name.)

That art exists at all is a miracle, because there is only room for art when survival is not on the line. 

(Dancing Horse, Capitol Reef petroglyph)

I'm glad to see the world through different eyes. 

(Magic Gardens, Philadelphia)

30 Things I'm Thankful For: Day 27

Leftovers.

Well, Thanksgiving leftovers, anyway.

Which, of course, necessitates thankfulness about refrigerators, tupperware, ziplock bags, etc. etc.  

You know me by now...

30 Things I'm Thankful For: Day 26

Fun houseguests (relatives, all) for the holiday!

Whether just for dinner (Ellen and Wade), 

or to "Occupy Gabrielsen's Student Apartment" (other sleepover guests).

We had too much fun, on campus...

...downtown...

...running up the Rocky steps (actually Museum of Art, patrons of which get annoyed at calling it the Rocky steps)..

...riding buses and trains around the city...

...in sparkling and warm weather...

We miss you all, already.  

Thanks Jenna, Kit, Lynne, Ellen and Wade!

30 Things I'm Thankful For: Day 25

Gadgets and apps:  A few favorites: 

my computer.  Any computer, really. 

(The first time I took college algebra, I used a slide rule...)

 

Google, Google images (without which there would be no blog), Google maps and street view, Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Arts and Letters Daily

My Tom-Tom. Yes, even after the Great DC Debacle of 2011.

The microwave

My magic phone that fits in my pocket and connects me to just about all of the world's knowledge...

30 Things I'm Thankful For: Day 24

 Thankful that Thanksgiving is such a great excuse to do family things.

Like have niece Jenna up from DC.

If you look closely, you'll see no two items on this table match.  

But it looks good, right?  Right?

Kiss the cook!

Ellen and Wade joined us, too, and were happy to see Jenna.

We managed to fit in a football game in Clark Park.

Sunny and warm.

When the missionaries came to play, we called it the mini Turkey Bowl.

(Camera stuck in a tree branch.)

Mashed potatoes.  Can be messy.

Didn't have a gravy boat, but the previous tenant had left us...

a gravy-Stein!

Post-feast detritus.

And tryptophan catatonia...

30 Things I'm Thankful For: Day 23

Mom and Dad.  

Today is the 62nd anniversary of their marriage.

30 Things I'm Thankful For: Day 22

Three reasons I'm a mechanical engineer:
1. Trains.  When I was 10 or so, some great old steam trains came through Ogden for the centennial of the golden spike.

2. About the same year, Neil and Buzz walked on the moon.

3. And there have always been planes.
The A-10 Warthog is my favorite.

I really, truly, geekily love science, engineering and technology.

30 Things I'm Thankful For: Day 21

Miracles.  

There are miracles in my life that no one else can see.  

And I wouldn't even try to explain.

That's the beauty of miracles: they are tailored and individual.

30 Things I'm Thankful For: Day 20

A warm, comfy bed (not my real bed).

In a snug, secure, dry and warm apartment (my real apartment).

At the end of a long day (my real day, sometimes).

30 Things I'm Thankful For: Day 19

Farmers.

Ranchers (yes, that's my cousin, Scott)

Fisherpeople.

Them what catches or makes the food we are about to be thankfully gorging ourselves on.

It takes a special sort to stake your future on the vicissitudes of weather and market price.

Once I asked a rancher friend what he would do if he had a million dollars.  "Oh,"  he said, "I'd probably just keep ranching until it was gone.."