Happy Thanksgiving

Hey! The noon horn just sounded. It is fixed! Awesome!

Last night, our family grabbed dinner at Turkey's Cafe & Pizzeria and then walked across the street to see "Wicked: For Good" at the Harbor Springs Lyric Theatre. The pizza and sandwiches were great and the movie was a lot of fun.

In typical Harbor Springs fashion, we ran into folks we knew in both places and exchanged Thanksgiving wishes. I got to sit next to Jib at the movie and meet her daughter visiting for the holiday. What a treat!

Our plan for last evening was brought to us by our friend Bob, who dropped off gift certificates for the kids. He just stopped by, handed me a card and told me to take the family out. We had a ball, Bob! (and thank you for the suggestion).

We live in a special place where these kinds of happy run-ins with our neighbors happen every day. We cheer on Cora at Little Traverse Tileworks as she makes thousands of ornaments to be sent across the state. We rely on book recommendations from Katie, Susan, Alison and the rest of the gang at Between the Covers. We chat with Hannah at Harbor Springs Farmers Market mornings and Matthew at the bar at the The New York Restaurant. We joke with Kelly after our fourth trip to Meyer Ace Hardware - Harbor Springs in a day and ask Kathy for window box advice up at Renolda's.

There are hundreds of other causal connections we get to make in this small town. Connections of care and concern. It is why we hardy few are able to stick around and survive the winters. We provide warmth for one another. All members of the Fellowship of the Cold and Windy.

I didn't start this thing to make friends-though it has been an unexpected perk. I am thankful for every single one of you I have met along the way. Julie reminded yesterday about the story Mr. Rogers' mother told him about how to cope when bad things happen. She said he should "look for the helpers." Afterall, in communities like ours, there are always people who rush to help others.

Sometimes they wear uniforms like the team Chief Knight leads at the police department, or the steady volunteers Chief Cupps leads at our fire department. But often, they are just neighbors willing to lend a hand when needed. You know who they are. There are too many to name here.

I would venture to guess there are more "helpers" in Harbor Springs per-capita than just about any place on the planet-something we can all be thankful for this holiday season.

I know I have not lived here as long as most of you. But I feel like I am adopted kin. What I recognize is that Harbor Springs is small enough that none of us are more than one degree of separation. That closeness adds accountability to each of us. We all know someone who knows someone.

We know we have a responsibility to do what we can to help make difficult situations better. We see personal attacks as not reflective of who we are as a community. We celebrate each other's successes. That is the Harbor Springs I see. It is the Harbor Springs built by neighbors and supported by friends.

Maybe it sounds corny in this age of cynicism---but after over a year of doing this, I still see so much good.

Harbor Springs is a community whose foundation is gratitude not grievance. Thanks for all you are doing to keep that foundation strong.

Tomorrow, our family gets to join friends up the hill to celebrate Thanksgiving--and I am going to take a break. I hope you each get to spend some time to celebrate with those you love. We have much to be grateful for Harbor Springs.

Happy Thanksgiving!