Hello, my dear little chipmunks!

I thought it would be nice, if, wholly, unoriginal, to use this week’s space giving thanks. Now I would like to think that, on a daily basis, I am a fairly thanks-giving woman. But even I am self-aware enough to know that days, weeks, well, to be truthful, sometimes even years, go by, wherein I haven’t though beyond my own personal realm. And so, the day of thanks and gluttony fast approaching…

First and foremost, I thank my mother. While not, by any means, a warm woman, she would have done anything to see me grow and thrive. She lives on in my heart, and also on a plaque in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Thanks to family, whether real, acquired, or extended. Family is not necessarily what you were born with, it is what you make, and I am grateful to have created the best family for which one could wish.

Thank you to loyal friends: What would this world be without you? The support and love, laughs and tears, shared with you…the value is immeasurable.

Also thanks to worthy foes, who in trying to tear down, only manage to build up. No mettle is truly tested and proved inviolable without strong opposition.

Thanks to whatever higher power one believes in, and if that is none, then to yourself. Creation is magic, whatever the source.

Thanks to the cosmetics industry, which has kept me looking relatively young, youthful, handsome, well into my later years. While it was a tiny emotional earthquake the day I realized that it was necessary to make the leap away from light-coverage foundation, I am thankful that full-coverage was there to catch me on the other side of that particular crevasse.

I am thankful for the Arts, and entertainment in all forms. My life would never have been possible, well, the life I wound up leading, at any rate, without the Arts. They helped me escape my humble beginnings in Poughkeepsie. Took me to places of which a young girl, and then older woman, could only dream! Alas, they were also the cause of my first, and lasting, brush with the disillusionment and rancor that love can bring. But I shan’t think of that at the moment; I’m happy!

Taking a side path for a moment…Speaking of entertainment, I, yes I, am a semi-fan of the television show The X-Factor; not a big fan, mind you, but I watch. If I may be allowed to exorcize some of the rancor that has come flashing back into my mind by merely alluding to my late husband above, and I hope, below: I do not at all like that fellow who hosts. He dampens every moment he is onscreen. I am eagerly awaiting the episode in which he will be voted off.

But I do love that little Chris Rene. He reminds me of a young Tom Waits, whom I adore. I remember sitting with him, Tom, not Chris, in a less than reputable boîte in, if memory serves, Oklahoma; what can one do, one takes jobs, and sustenance, wherever one may. I remember I lifted a glass to him and said, “Oh, Tom, there will never again be anyone like you!” To which he mumbled something in reply. But I was wrong: I predict that Mr. Rene will have a long career singing honestly of life in America. There is nothing better than a good storyteller…well, perhaps a well-made Manhattan.

One more step on this path of digression. I cannot wait for Hugo to be released; what a visually stunning treat to the eyes those trailers have been!

And now stepping trippingly back onto the main path. I am very thankful for this lovely group of women with whom I find myself in such close company. “In no particular order,” as that vapid man from the X-Factor would say: Ellen, Sheila, Christina, and Martha, a girl couldn’t ask for a better group with which to share time and bandwidth.

And finally: To life. No, it is not always easy, never predictable, and ofttimes somewhat frightening, but my goodness, what a wonderful ride it continues to be.

Be safe in your travels, be they down the path, across the country, or from room to room.

Thanks and Love to you, too,

Jane