I give thanks

Most of all I am thankful for my good health, my lovely wife and adorable little boys. I am thankful that we are able to live in such a nice home and that Starkville, despite the fact that it is not a very attractive town, is a really really SAFE town for kids to play in. Aside from that, I am really thankful for the BBC world service, which I listen to all night long, although it has kind of turned into all Pakistan all the time, and no word at all on Dog the Bounty Hunter and his quest for redemption, which is annoying. I’m thankful for my parents and for the fact that they both really worked hard to make something of their lives, and that they didn’t become mullet-sporting bounty hunters in biker gear with their own TV show and they didn’t cuss me out over the phone telling me that I couldn’t be part of their bounty-hunting operation. I’m thankful that they started out raising me near the town of Sylva, NC, a tiny hamlet kind of like Starkville, where kids can just roam over hill and dale all afternoon without getting hassled by the cops. I’m thankful for good coffee, pepperjack cheese, the White Stripes, all the characters in the local grocery stores, In Touch magazine, the New York Review of Books, and all the other little things put here for my amusement. The world is so full of such wonderful things, I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.