Giving Thanks

It has been relatively quiet on the streets of Washington since the end of the evening rush on Wednesday. If ever there was a day to get the hell outa Dodge, it is this one. But I stayed, and so my day was relatively quiet as well. I had coffee and a "nosh" with a friend this morning, spent the afternoon at home doing housework and fixing a modest holiday dinner (turkey slices with gravy over rice and vegetables, prepared in the microwave, and joined by a glass of zinfendel), and spent the evening with another friend watching a favorite movie on video. Fortunately, the festivities have yet to end, and the weekend will call for more dancing. Deo gratias...

"The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies...

"No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

"It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving. And I recommend to them... that they fervently implore the imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.

"Done at the City of Washington, this 3d day of October, in the year of our Lord 1863, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-eighth."

-- Abraham Lincoln