and now the season begins....

So how many of you have just noticed that it is November? Well, yes, the trees are in the process of changing, and the weather has gotten a bit cooler in the mornings. But did you notice that the year has literally flown by? No pun intended to the victims of all the hurricanes, earthquakes and other disastrous catastrophe's, because they had a first hand to the flying process, losing much more than any of us can possibly comprehend. So now my heart goes out to all of them... everywhere in the world.

Imagine your comfortable world ravaged by all the ills the weather can throw at you. Suddenly, everything that you knew to be true and working, was all taken away, and you had to scramble every ounce of your will not to give in or break down, because every bit of that energy was needed to start over. Questions have to be answered as to where your next meal is coming from, where to live, what to do... and that's just the beginning of the list.

We have the American custom of celebrating Thanksgiving at the end of November... but imagine how many people will go without the essentials, never mind turkey and stuffing. I can only imagine they wonder what there is to be thankful for. Life, yes, but I'm sure their needs go much deeper, as they try to put it all back together... and the word "life" to them means survival. They have truly had their butts kicked only because they live in areas susceptible to all that Mother Nature could throw at them.

Our nation comes together and holds fund-raisers, collects monies and mourns for their sadness, but those unaffected will still be able to sit down at the end of the day and breathe a sigh of relief that they are lucky ( so far ) to be out of harms way. After all, it's not like we can harness the weather, or put definite predictability as to where the disasters will happen. We can only hope that they don't strike us and leave us with nothing.

So with Thanksgiving only weeks away, I throw a challenge to all to be thankful for what you have as you carve your turkey, and say a silent prayer to those without... be it due to catastrophe or just hard luck circumstances. I know it's not much, but in the scope of all that's before us, it's a moment to think of something or someone other than ourselves.