Thankful

Most of all, I'm thankful for Conan: my dear, sweet, enthusiastic, charming, healthy, talented and beautiful boy. I'm thankful for my loving husband, my wonderful family, and terrific friends. I'm thankful for abundance, safety, security, employment, housing, entertainment and beauty. I'm resoundingly thankful that I was lucky enough to be born into a time (and place) where the ravages of war, pestilence, famine, natural disasters or zombie hordes have not impacted me or my family.

I'm thankful that we'll be heading to Plain for a delicious meal and I don't have to bring anything but this little boy and his sweet smile.
But you know, everyone says those same things. I got to thinking about it this morning, and I realized that I'm really thankful for all the mundane miracles of my comfortable modern life. So here's a shout-out to all the little things (in no particular order) that I'm thankful that I have in my life, but that I usually take for granted:

• Soap Seriously. It kills germs, removes oil and grease, and makes things smell better. Soap is incredible, and we take it for granted all the time.
  
  
• Refrigeration Keeping my food fresh and safe day and night. From the farm to the store to my very own home, it's amazing what refrigeration does for us.
  
  
• Hot Water Ooh yeah. I love hot showers. And we enjoy hot water at the touch of a lever, any time. No building a fire, no messing with kettles, it just comes right out of the tap.
  
  
• Indoor Plumbing Often overlooked, but I dare any American or Canadian to live without it for long. Outhouses (even when well maintained) are not warm and pleasant. Having to melt snow to make your tea is only fun a couple of times.
  
  
• Antibiotics An incredible medical breakthrough. Penicillin was only discovered in 1928, and in less than 100 years we have already begun to take for granted and abuse these amazing medicines.
  
  
• Electricity I don't know how it works, but I sure do like having it available. Reliable, consistant, plentiful electricity makes so much of our modern lifestyle possible.
  
  
• Tea Not too long ago, people spent years on risky treks and voyages around the globe in order to obtain tea. Now all I have to do is walk to the cupboard to enjoy a cup.
  
  
• Telephones People complain about not being able to get away from their phones, but think about what it used to be like before they existed. If only there was some way to let the neighbors know that you needed help!
  
  
• Public Schools Free education. I know, College isn't free. And some public schools are better than others. But still, we have a system in place where all kids are eligible to learn to read and write, and the basics of math, science, literature and more are taught. That's pretty amazing.
  
  
• Washers & Dryers I'm so glad I don't have to spend hours down by the river, beating my clothes on rocks and hoping it won't rain until they dry.
  
  
• Sugar I know, it's not good for us to eat a bunch of sugar. But it is sure nice to have available to put in my tea, or make cookies with, right there in my pantry.
  
  
• Computers Seriously, how did people every get along without these? Just in my lifetime they have changed and improved so much that the old ones are nearly unrecognizeable. Why, I remember when a 14.4 external modem was a sweet peice of hardware!
  
  
• Baby Formula It's come a long, long way. Like sugar, it has its drawbacks, but I am SO glad that safe, nutritious, balanced infant formula was available for us when breastfeeding didn't work out as well as planned.
  
  
• Comfortable Clothes Boned corsets and hoop skirts, anyone? Powdered wigs and ruffled collars?
  
  
• Fresh Produce all year long I *like* being able to go to the grocery store and buy Mangos and Avocados and Bell Peppers and Oranges in November in Washington.
  
  
• Spices Like tea, people used to risk their lives for spices. Now I just go to my pantry when I want nutmeg, cloves, or cinnamon. Can you imagine not having pepper at your table?
  
  
• Wood Stoves There's nothing like a nice fire NOT filling your house with smoke, or burning it down, while you enjoy its cheery warmth.
  
  
• Books It wasn't too long ago that books were items of extreme luxury, available only to the weathiest few. Teen vampire romance novels might not seem like that much of a blessing, but there's also Calvin & Hobbes collections, The Joy of Cooking, and the Audubon Field Guide to North American Birds, to name just a few.
  
  
• Water-proof boots I don't like getting my feet wet.
  
  
• Sippy Cups How DID parents ever teach kids to drink out of cups before sippy cups? I mean, without having water spilled all over everything?
  
  
• Garbage Pickup For a very reasonable fee, people come to my house every week and take my garbage & recycling away. All I have to do is remember to put it out at the end of the driveway. How amazing is that?
  

So... What are you thankful for?