A Sober Thanksgiving?    

   No, we don't mean an alcohol-free holiday.

   Thanksgiving week. Thawing the turkey. Bought the stuffing, and the yams.

   Over the baggage drop and through the metal detector, to grandmother's house they will come.

   Thank you Lord. 

   And please touch the survivors of Michael the wicked hurricane, and those 8,800 Californians whose homes are incinerated. Amen.

   Mother Nature can be nasty for people used to many conveniences, and she is no respecter of persons. Michael came and went quickly, but historic in power.  

   Wind driven fires are so different, yet so alike in pain. What does one do when not only your home but your community, businesses, utilities, medical and other services, gas stations, cell towers - everything - is gone? A taste of Hiroshima?     
   So we thank God for our blessings, and we pray for comfort for survivors, and strength for first responders, fire fighters, National Guardsmen and chaplains. At least 71 have perished in the fires, and some 1,000 are unaccounted for.  

   We feel odd. We pray. Glad it's not us. We sympathize. Pass the casserole please. It's Thanksgiving. 

   There's a lesson here. Always be ready to meet your Maker.

      Jimmy