Hello Thanksgiving, it seems like you’re running late. I can’t say that I blame you. Most of us have been hiding out at home, or behind our masks, so you can be excused for being a bit anti-social. Still, it’s nice having you around. The turkeys are smaller, and the gatherings are more intimate, but we still have reasons to be thankful.

I always look forward to writing a “thankful” column, as do many writers. It’s a way to give thanks, while also clearing our pockets of little notes we save throughout the year.

I am thankful that I have not yet run out of toilet paper. It makes me reflect on my misbegotten youth, when we had so much Charmin, we threw it in trees every Halloween.

I am thankful for our election workers. They were warned they would be criticized for their hard work. But they showed up, did their jobs quietly and efficiently, and conducted a fair election under difficult circumstances. They deserve a raise, and they deserve our praise.

I am thankful for people who still take pride in spelling and grammar. I had someone tell me the other day that “your” and “you’re” were both correct, as in “Your kidding.” No, their not.

I am thankful I overheard this conversation in the doctor’s office waiting room: “Well, I can’t see, and I can’t hear, but I’m glad I can still drive.”

I am thankful that Kellogg’s and Little Debbie have joined forces to create Oatmeal Creme Pie cereal, which will be in stores in December. It is described as “crispy oatmeal puffs with a cream coating.” I am described as “craving it.”

I am thankful that my wife wakes up after I eat breakfast, so she will never know that I will be pouring chocolate milk on Oatmeal Creme Pie cereal.

I am thankful that new restaurants are being built in my town, during the worst economic conditions restaurants have ever endured. That, my friends, is optimism, and I’ll take all of that I can get.

I am thankful for the Atlanta Braves. In an otherwise glum year, my team won a National League East division title, and came within one game of the World Series. Smiles have been hard to come by, and the Braves provided many. I’m looking at you, Most Valuable Player Freddie Freeman.

I will never take you, my kind reader, for granted. 

I am thankful for your compliments and your criticism. By the time we take another journey around the sun, I hope we will have even more for which to be thankful.

David Carroll is a Chattanooga news anchor. He may be reached at radiotv2020@yahoo.com.