Driving to work on Monday morning the following lyrics spoke to me. They resonated with me. They made me think of the upcoming holiday. The lyrics were, of course, “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, with every Christmas card I write, May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white.”

The lyrics also made me think I slept through Thanksgiving as I looked outside. As I tried to wrap my head around what was going on what with the blanket of snow on the ground and the upcoming potential for a half a foot of global warming on Tuesday I got to thinking about what there was to be thankful for this week.

I am thankful that the election of 2018 is in the books. Not because I did not enjoy the mudslinging and the angst. No, I am thankful that we can now delve into the steel cage deathmatch that will be the 2020 election. The possibilities are endless. There are 535 members of Congress, thousands of pundits and an untold number of people who actually think they have a chance to win the Presidency. The one commonality is that 99 percent of them are seriously delusional in believing that they have a chance.

Closer to home, I am thankful that the Durham Fire and Rescue stuck to their guns (all puns intended) and did not cave. The organization has come under fire recently for a raffle that sells tickets for a chance to win firearms in the month of November. This raffle, whose money has gone to purchase needed equipment, has been conducted for years and has been wildly successful. Of course, there is always someone or some group that will be irritated by success and believe that their way in the only way.

If you have something that has worked in the past and is providing goods to our first responders that would otherwise not be available good for you. If even one set of bunker gear can be purchased for a firefighter in Durham, then it is a worthy cause.

As I look out my window maybe I can be thankful for this blanket of white stuff. I guess it might be a little harder for the Maine version of the “Rainbow Warrior” to see the forty-acre shellfish factory bobbing around the bay. I can see the boat now slowly motoring around as the members of “Save Maquoit Bay” chant, “Cloister the oyster!” Oh, what a sight to behold.

I am thankful knowing that my children may be going to school until the latter part of July if the trend in snow continues and their snow days rack up. I will be listening to their plaintive cries as they ready their water bottles for a day of sitting in a classroom in early July. As wisdom is often lost on the young, it will be entertaining to hear their rationalizing the great snow totals of 2018 and 2019.

I am thankful that the cold may keep the brave souls who stand in line at every major store waiting for the doors to open on Black Friday at bay. Rushing the doors while overcoming snow banks and ice flows may be mildly entertaining but getting an item that you must have today only to never use tomorrow may not be worth a trip to the ER for a sprain or a break.

I am truly thankful that I will be waking up on Thanksgiving and having breakfast with my bride and our boys before we depart for dinner with my Mom and sister. Thanksgiving, with the food, the fun and the good times happen all too rarely and it is always something to be thankful for.

Finally, to those who will not be home with their family while staffing a firehouse, a police station or a hospital. Know that everyone gives thanks for you being where you are just in case.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Jonathan Crimmins can be reached at [email protected].