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Among the more enjoyable series of books I read were the “Book of Lists,” chocked full of trivia such as “Worst places to hitchhike,” “People suspected of being Jack the Ripper,” and “Collective nouns for animals.” (An ambush of tigers, dazzle of zebras, fever of stingrays, etc.)
Much more recently, in a training session at work, we were advised that studies suggest that breaking complex issues down into lists makes them easier to digest. Will lists, therefore, become Bryan’s new thing here in the Caroline Review? I could give you a list of reasons it probably won’t happen, but it being the month of Thanksgiving, I shall provide a list of things I am thankful for.
In no particular order...
1. A warm home on a cold day.
2. Mail on Saturdays.
3. That despite all the times I’ve stabbed them with a screwdriver, cut them with a knife and hit them with a hammer, my two hands continue to work.
4. I know the salt of the earth, for instance, Bob & Connie Fletcher, Holly Prue, and Walt Palmer.
5. Anyone who still calls me “young man.”
6. The person who baked the last pumpkin pie I ate.
7. The person who will bake the next pumpkin pie I eat. (I like pumpkin pie.)
8. Sweet potato pie? Ditto.
9. YouTube.
10. I can have all the clean drinking water I can stand.
11. Idylwild Wildlife Management Area
12. Dogs
13. The birds of this world.
14. Cats, except the ones who eat those birds.
15. That I’m old enough to have shopped at the McCrory’s in Easton, the Woolworth’s in Seaford, and the Western Auto in Denton.
16. That I’m young enough to hold the world’s greatest library in my hand.
17. This is still the Green Garden County.
18. The feeling I get when I awake from “that” dream and realize that it really doesn’t matter if I can’t remember my locker combination, or where my next classroom is located, or that I haven’t shown up for said class for three months. It doesn’t matter because Clarence Phillips handed me that diploma over 34 years ago and nobody can take it away from me. So, there!
19. Socks that don’t slide down.
20. The sound of an old engine under load.
21. Root beer.
22. First-Sunday carry-in dinner after church.
23. Daddy-Long-Legs.
24. Dr. Sniezek and Dr. Butler, the pride of Preston.
25. Dr. Branson and Dr. Branson, optometrists we should all be proud of.
26. I don’t have to eat turkey without cranberry sauce.
27. The pleasure of driving up to Lancaster County via the “back way” for a day trip.
28. The employees of the county Board of Elections.
29. Politicians who exhibit good common sense. (Rarest item on the list?)
30. Our county courthouse.
31. Martinak State Park.
32. Shooting stars.
33. Being able to watch the train go by from my front yard.
34. Crabcakes.
35. The Ferris Wheel at the Sharptown Carnival is still powered by a gasoline engine.
36. People who know how to pronounce my name.
37. Whoever left that rear-view mirror on my side step (I have my suspicions that they are already on this list once!)
38. Shoes that fit.
39. Beans and franks.
40. When my old car starts and idles on the first try.
41. AM radio.
42. I don’t have to leave the United States if I don’t want to.
43. I can leave the United States if I want to.
44. Trees, great and small.
45. Bees.
46. Spiders and snakes, except when they sneak up on me.
47. Old photographs.
48. Dirt roads.
49. Mom and Dad.
50. Be allowed to fill up a page of the Caroline Review each month.
Yes, for this, and all these things, I am thankful. And for you, dear reader, for making it this far...and for supporting the advertisers who keep this enterprise going month after month, year after year. Thank you.
