By Gift
A day so happy.
Fog lifted early. I worked in the garden.
Hummingbirds were stopping over the honeysuckle flowers.
There was no thing on earth I wanted to possess.
I knew no one worth my envying him.
Whatever evil I had suffered, I forgot.
To think that once I was the same man did not embarrass me.
In my body I felt no pain.
When straightening up, I saw blue sea and sails.
-Czeslaw Milosz
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! So many things have changed since last year and our impromptu Thanksgiving dinner in Sincelejo. I now wear socks every day and have a bit more of a routine in my life. In keeping with tradition, here is a list, in no particular order, of things I am thankful for this year.
-running water: both hot and drinkable.
-fast internet
-the Parkway, about five tree lined blocks between my house and work. Something interesting is always happening. A clarinet player and a boxer have a musical standoff. Hippies smoke pot and swing in trees. People engage in group yoga. Aerobics classes happen by the statue of Simon Bolivar. Couples make out on benches. Nuns walk by all the time; I take their presence as a sign of a good day.
-my apartment and the fact that I can clean it! I am turning my bedroom into my sanctuary.
-my roommate.
-walking to work
-CBC Radio podcasts, especially Tapestry and Ideas.
-Working on a radio show at work. Who knew, after all of those hours speaking into a tape recorder as a girl, I would actually be helping producer a show? You can listen to the latest episode, featuring the role of women as peacebuilders, here.
-Walking to work every day.
-Books
-Fresh flowers
-Friends and colleagues. Phone calls with people from far away.
-Access to vegetables, including things with pumpkins. Smitten Kitchen pumpkin and chocolate pudding. Pumpkin spice lattes. Cooking good food in a mouse free kitchen.
-Going home to Canada and coming home to Colombia.
-The weather-I miss the heat of the coast, but the climate in Bogota is like fall all year round, so it really does feel like Thanksgiving today.
-Celebrating Thanksgiving with Canadian friends.
-Words, especially my ever expanding vocabulary in Spanish. In Spanish, Thanksgiving is translated as Dia de Accion de Gracias, literally the action of thanks. This changes the day from a passive “I feel thankful” to a day of active thankfulness.
-Colombia is going to the WORLD CUP!
-Coffee.
-Alice Munro won the Noble Prize for Literature.
-Continuing to learn and live in Colombia.
-The view of the mountains from my window.
My former community, being thankful after recieving reperations.
Anna L. Vogt 