There are a great many things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Of course, depending upon your background or your sense of the world your list could be wildly different from others at your work, your neighborhood, your family, even your home. While you are giving thanks to your blessings this week here are just a few of the things for which I will be thankful.

That gold ball. Seeing the high school football team finally raise the ball last Friday night was a special moment. Years of missed chances all faded away in a moment as young and old were able to celebrate a wonderful achievement. Congrats to the Dragons.

The Bath Viaduct project. It seems a bit odd giving thanks for a project like this but for me, Bath has always felt like another world. It was not so much a destination as place that you transited through while you went somewhere else. The viaduct did not help matters. Perhaps when it is completed, it will be easier to make Bath a destination and not just a landmark. And maybe once the state is done with Bath they can work on the Route 1 debacle in Wiscasset.

The results of the recent election. There was something for everyone to be happy about on Nov. 8. Some of the candidates that I hoped would win came away victorious. Others came up a little short when all the ballots were counted. That is the nature of elections.

Despite the outcomes, anyone who puts themselves out there to run is already a winner. If you have never sat in the cauldron of running for office do so, because it is an eye-opening experience. Weeks on end you are out and about. Meeting people. Talking. Then it comes to a sudden stop. Gone. Finished.

Development out at the base. It looked shaky for a while, but there certainly are signs that life is picking up at the Landing. Is it back to the levels that we saw before the Navy flew away? No, but there has been an improvement. On the bright side, there are only 10 months until the Blue Angels make their way back to Brunswick.

The ingenuity of the residents of the area. I was out in Durham a couple of weeks ago and I saw a sign for “organic firewood.” Who knew there was such a thing? At first I did not believe it but there it was on the side of the road, a beacon to all who wanted to heat their home with an environmentally friendly wood source.

Someday I must stop and ask them if the entire operation is organic. Do they only use beavers to cut down the trees? It could be a whole new growth industry.

I guess that if there can be a company in Portland that claims to sell “Free range lobsters,” there can be a company that sells, “organic firewood.”

Of course, I give the most thanks to my entire family. Specifically, my wife, my children and my Mom. Being able to share time this week with them is a treat that is all too brief but so much fun. Whether it is watching the parade in the morning or taking in all the sights and smells of the meal in the afternoon, Thanksgiving is a great time.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

That’s my two cents…

Jonathan Crimmins lives in Brunswick and can be reached at j_ [email protected].