Thanksgiving 2020 and, man, am I thankful for a lot of
things –
For the 80,026,721 people who voted to dump the president and those who work to
make sure he goes;
For the people who fought the administration in court and worked the system to
limit and stop the damage;
For the workers who are out there doing hard, essential work, many for crap pay, and not just during this pandemic, but always…and that includes the public servants;
For Four Seasons Landscaping and all the people who make me laugh;
For those who work on protests and campaigns, the Black Lives Matter, antifa and other radical activist, and those who fight against authoritarianism, misogyny, white supremacy and other oppression;
For you readers who stuck with me through this thing, who wrote me with encouragement, who helped me square the math, and who sent contributions both monetary and in information;
For my friends for laughs, support, and listening to me ramble and ramble and ramble;
And, mostly, for Susan, the love of my life, and Harry, my little buddy.
I take none of us for granted. It’s thanks to all of us that most of us got through the last four years with only scrapes, bruises, fatigue, and a heavy soul. For the most part, we hung together, saw strength in our differences, fought hard, and comforted each other when we needed to. No praise for that. It is what we should and must but, often, don’t do.  We did it and I am very thankful for that.
So, as this intense, difficult, frustrating year closes, I am looking at 2020 not just as the year things fell apart, but also the one in which our work has started to show that we are pulling things together.
I’ve written a lot about how change happens, that there is no single path or pace. It starts and stops and slows and speeds up. It soars forward and is shoved back. There are always walls to climb, moats to breach, and bridges to build (and some to burn down), but when we, everyday people, do the work, ignore cynics and naysayers, and commit to change, we make the world a better place, not perfect but better, more free, more equal, and more just. Never surrender. Keep on keepin’ on. Happy Thanksgiving.