Giving thanks

I like to say thank you. One of the things I love most about Japan is that there are so many ways to say thank you and show appreciation. When I got back from Japan last month, I felt like I was being so rude in the UK because I was only saying thank you or thanks to shop and waiting staff a couple of times at most when receiving stuff.

Today being Thanks Giving in America I thought it would be an appropriate time to make a small list of the things I am really, truly thankful for. Not the obvious things like my family, or my boyfriend Jason; I could never convey in words how grateful I am to have him in my life. Or my friends like Lorraine and Ruth who I feel so privileged to know and call my friends. Don't worry you can get rid of the sick bucket now. I want to write about the really small things in life which actually turn out to be the things that make me thankful in life.

For example I'm thankful for the autumn leaves, most of which have blown off the trees during that last couple of storms. At this time of year, with the light dwindling, a tree topped with a shock of scarlet or fiery golden leaves really warms the heart.

But here is a list of things that I am very thankful for:

Attic bedrooms, I always wanted one and I have one now!
My Sony Reader
Chai tea
Visiting a live volcano
Bookshops particularly old dusty ones
Having tasted Sacher Tort at Hotel Sacher in Vienna
My lava lamp
Snow, particularly having played in the heavy snow of early 80s winters
Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster
My cat Rookie
Hot baths
Dame Shirley Bassey singing Big Spender or anything really!
Mountains
Being lucky enough to live in Cornwall
The smell of roses in the summer and lilac in May
Motorbikes
Seeing dolphins in the Canary Islands and in Scotland
Cat Bus
Blues, folk and loud, loud rock music
Pie and mash
The sound o af tennis ball on racket strings
Real ale or whiskey
Freshly baked bread
Shakespear

I could go on for ever.

So when I am feeling grumpy in the future and forgetting to be thankful I shall come back and look at this list.