Burn bans have been lifted and wildfires contained after steady rains Tuesday, Nov. 21, put a pause in a relentless drought that has been growing since an abnormally dry weather pattern emerged in September. 

As Turkey Day fast approaches our mouths start to water as our hearts fill with gratitude. We are grateful for all those that we love and the few that we have lost. We search our memory for all of our blessed moments in the past year, coming up with the one that humbled us in the face of this wide, expansive universe. This is the one that we will share as we are gathered around the table this week. This is the one that will moisten eyes and create the lump in our throat as we find the words that sing unison with our heart. What exactly are blessings, and can we use them any other time of the year?

I once wrote a story about a couple in Jackson County who had been living off the grid for decades. They were college-educated professionals who made a choice to live intentionally. 

In her classic novel “Little Women,” Louisa May Alcott has her character Margaret gaze bitterly at the family’s frostbitten garden and proclaim that “November is the most disagreeable month in the whole year.”

My wife and I were truly blessed to have our children, some relatives and close friends gathered for Thanksgiving, which has always been my favorite holiday. So many of the people I love, all together around the table and nothing on the agenda except to re-tell stories from the past, muse about the future, revel in each other’s company and eat until we couldn’t. The world’s problems seemed to melt away.

Twenty-two years ago, Janet Hensley, now 59, was working in guest services at a new hotel in her hometown of Erwin, Tennessee.

By Sabrina Matheny • Rumble Contributor | I am spiritual medium and intuitive designer. Some of my skills include communicating with the spirit world via spirit speak in order to get guidance for my clients; balancing spaces using my knowledge of Feng Shui principles in homes and businesses to bring about a feeling of peace and harmony; and teaching others about energy work. 

Every year of our girlhood, my sister and I woke up early on Thanksgiving Day, sat at the kitchen barstools in our pajamas and helped my mom break up cornbread and biscuits so we could make my great grandmother’s dressing recipe. Throughout the day, the house would fill with smells of turkey, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. Sometime mid-morning, my grandparents would drive up from Travelers Rest, S.C., to join in on the festivities. 

By Sabrina Matheny • Rumble Contributor | Last weekend I had dinner with friends and felt so grateful to be with such awesome people.  Think back to the times that you gathered with those you hadn’t seen in a while and nutshelled each other as to what was new and different in order to share your lives. I was having one of these mini conversations with an old friend and she asked me to remind her of my date’s name.  As I did, I added a fun way to remember his name to avoid any awkwardness between them.  She looked at me and said, “I don’t need help remembering that name.  I had a good friend named ….”

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I raided my public library, brought home an armload of books having to do with Turkey Day, and am delighted to share them with you here.