i am thankful for beer.
for hot food and warmth when it's cold,
and cold pools to jump into when it's hot.
for fresh water, dark and delicious.
for friends in every season,
solitude too. i am thankful for the rain,
and the wind, the snow and the sun,
the deep drifts of february
and the steady drip of april.
i am thankful for alpine meadows
full of yellow and purple flowers
and a sole orange tent against the sky.
i am thankful for my bed.
i am thankful for the people who write books.
for a hard day's work.
for those who start revolutions and make art,
who smile easily and think deeply.
for continents and maps.
i am thankful for my hands and feet,
the air i breathe, the confidence to state cliches,
knowing they're sometimes true.
i am thankful for mountaintops and the rocky edge of the sea.
for medicine.
for knowledge, and for all that we don't know,
all there is to explore, and all that we'll never understand.
i am thankful that this list could go on all night,
forever and ever,
amen.