Thanksgiving Is Coming Up

North Miami Beach, Florida 11-18-2000 Aaron H. Schectman

THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on issues, ideas and reflections on the times. Published now and
then. Opinions pro or con are welcome.

THANKSGIVING IS COMING UP

I have not had much time to muse and write essays for the last couple of
weeks. Moving down here to Florida has taken its toll. Exhaustion is only
part of it. One major part is the weird feeling that a lot of our "stuff"
never made it down. But, you know what? It really doesn't matter. This is
a favorite expression of my late mother-in-law. And, it really doesn't
matter.

We felt we had to give away our huge overstuffed living room sectionals.
The five months they were in storage gave them a musty smell and the room
looked too packed with our "things". A painter on the staff of our
wonderful contractor said he would take any furniture we were willing to
give away. So he arrived with a van and with another man and his wife they
lugged the things down and got them all in what was a tiny space. This
opened up our living room. Tonight our contractor, Luiz Cardoso, is taking
us to a Brazilian "Feast" in honor of the completion of our new home.

Then came the unpacking. What a lot of boxes! When they were emptied we
found out a truism: you can't put ten pounds of "stuff" in a sack that can
only hold five pounds. Therefore we were faced with the decision to part
with a lot of things we paid good money to store and transport down here.
Only a few precious objects d'art were chipped and one was completely
crushed. We will take this up with the insurance company.

The empty boxes also took up a lot of precious space and I was lucky to
have one of the workman take many of them away in his truck. So, this
brings me to the holiday that is coming up. We have a lot to give thanks
for. Let me count the ways.

First, we made it! Second, it looks like we have the makings of a nice
looking and comfortable home. Third, we have a marvelous circle of friends.
Fourth, we voted in the current election and we were not part of the group
to have their ballots thrown out. And lastly, the weather here in Florida
has been wonderful and the hurricane season is over.
Carol's Evaluation: 10 out of 10.