GRATITUDE: SMALL AND LARGE

What is your favorite holiday?

Thanksgiving is definitely mine. I've always loved autumn for its light and shadows, for leaves turning color and falling in swirls to the ground, and for the expectation of winter around the corner. But Thanksgiving adds one more note to the day:  Gratitude for the year behind us.

Even after a tumultuous time for our country and for the world as well, I can still list acts by people who put others ahead of themselves. I begin my list with a quirky event that confirms that small actions can make a difference.

Thank you 

To the Tilden Park rangers who closed a road in the park during the annual newt migration.

California Newt by Martha Slavin

To the scientists who have discovered that life can develop even two miles below the surface of the earth. Worms the size of a human hair exist deep in the soil without sun, sustained by water and minerals in the earth.

To wildlife conservationists for their work to increase the number of  whooping cranes, whose numbers were as low as 14 and now number in the 700s. For their efforts to save bald eagles, bisons, wolves and other less glamorous species such as snakes, snails, and mussels, who are repopulating in areas where previously we have tried to wipe them out.

Crane by Martha Slavin

To the people who rescue animals during fire storms or hurricanes and then work to find their owners, sometimes long after the event.

To all the helpers, our first responders, fire fighters, police officers, and military personnel, no matter what the weather or terrifying conditions, who put themselves in danger to help others. 

We all owe you more than gratitude.

Feather by Martha Slavin

To read more about life below the earth's surface:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/south-africa-gold-mining-what-lies-at-the-bottom-of-one-of-the-deepest-holes-ever-dug-by-man-60-minutes/

To read more about endangered species:

https://www.fws.gov/endangered/