It has not been a very happy Thanksgiving weekend in our little household. Yesterday, I had to have our beloved house cat, Goofy, (the Doofer) put down. I won't go into the conditions that led to having to make that most difficult decision. Suffice it to say, she had lived a long and good life and her time had come. Goofy came to us shortly after we moved to Paris. She was the runt of a litter of kittens that had been born next door. As the runt of the litter, she was always a small cat, but she lived her life with an intensity and ferocity that belied her diminutive size. I'm so thankful that she was a part of our lives for so long. 
So it's Thanksgiving. It is hard to generate a feeling of happiness in the face of powerful loss. I had a hard time sleeping last night. I guess I missed the comfort of my little cat curling up on my legs while I dozed off. I awoke about 4:00 a.m. Feeling kind of restless, I went downstairs for a snack. The house was a little cold. I bumped the the thermostat up a degree and was thankful to hear the faint sound of the furnace in the basement kicking in. We had had some trouble with it last year. I returned to my room and pulled up the wool blanket folded at the foot of my bed. Thankfully, I had remembered to wash it the day before. It had dried on the clothesline and had that fresh scent that only comes from fabric dried outside. I was thankful for it's comfort.
This morning I grabbed my cameras and went for a walk. It's become something of a tradition for me to post some fall colour pictures on social media after I was dragged, kicking and screaming, into the digital age. The sky outside was kind of overcast. Not quite the kind of crisp light that I prefer for fall colour shots. I was thankful for getting some shots earlier in the week under bright blue skies. They would make for a nice Thanksgiving post.
The camera I was using this morning is my Fuji XE-3. I purchased it earlier this year (pre-pandemic) as a 60th birthday gift to myself. https://refractivereasoning.blogspot.com/2020/04/bridges.html Unfortunately the camera had a minor glitch and had to be sent back to Fuji for warranty service. I was thankful to get it back in time for the fall colour season.
I wandered up to the dam and did a few shots there. The XE-3 performed flawlessly. I enjoyed the usual photographer's satisfaction of working with a really nice camera. I was thankful to live in a place where I could take beautiful photographs so close to home.
I later mosied downtown and was greeted by John, owner of John M. Hall Linens, who was laying out some colourful matts in anticipation of the weekend crowd. I took a few photos of his colourful merchandise. In the words of Harry Chapin, ''All my life's a circle.'' It occured to me as I walked away, that the Canadian made MacAusland blanket that had provided me some comfort last night was purchased at his store. I was thankful that I lived in a town where caring merchants still provide good quality stuff.
By now, you've probably noticed that I have used the words ''thankful'' or ''thankfully'' a lot in this post. I have learned something this holiday weekend. If you're looking for happiness, first find gratitude.
Thanks for the love and the lesson Doofer. I'll see you on the other side.
...more later
