My gratitude list

As though compelled to follow our own instructions from the previous post, our Thanksgiving 2020 was … different! We spent the afternoon at the home of good friends in Pleasant Valley for a tailgate-style Thanksgiving feast outside – food under the tent, lawn chairs in the front yard, dual fire pits going. The weather cooperated – it was pleasantly mild and we stayed for several hours of socially distanced socializing. Definitely neat, especially because of and for 2020. And here’s part two of my “follow your own instructions” post, a short gratitude list for Thanksgiving 2020:

 --Entire family together under one roof, healthy. For a few days, anyway.

 --As crappy as the semester was, we were still able to “practice” for a decent amount of it. Still able to do what we love and love what we do, albeit in a very different and very stilted way. It will make us appreciate “normal” that much more when it returns.

 --The loyalty of our alums, who have made an effort to stay connected with text, call, Zoom. Means a lot. We are all Forever Foxes. Special shout-out to my loyal blog follower Marty McGowan, who never fails to inspire me with his passion for our program.

 

--Flannel shirts. I have grown into a new appreciation of them, wearing them every day. Even have lined, outer-layer flannel shirts for cold-weather outdoor use (we have 3 dogs that need walking now, you know). Putting my phone in the left chest pocket and on speaker mode, I can walk around hands-free and talk and get stuff done, while the dogs also “get stuff done.” Neat.

 --My morning jogging buddies. We didn’t run together for the first 4-6 weeks of the pandemic but I’m glad we were able to resume our tradition since that time – for a distance, from a distance. Specifically, we have expanded our repertoire of “Netherwood” runs out on rural, hilly roads in Pleasant Valley and Clinton, and that has improved all our fitness levels, not to mention our friendships. I’m sure they are sick of hearing me whine, but because they are good and loyal friends, they listen. Also neat.

 --Seen circulating on Facebook and email and New York Times: “Zoom Thanksgiving beats an ICU Christmas.” Because of its pervasiveness, it has already become cliché but still works.

 --The incredible loyalty and longevity of Running Red Foxes coaches. Since early 1991, when Phil Kelly and I started this journey, we have shown Pittsburgh Steelers’ style stability at the helm: Phil had an incredible run of success that ended with his retirement in 2008; Chuck Williams started as an athlete in the fall of 1995 and never left, having been a coach in some capacity after his graduation and now the co-pilot at the helm for the past dozen years, devoting a large portion of his entire adult life to all things Running Red Foxes; Terry Horton has been here for the past dozen or so years, stubbornly refusing to retire (greatly appreciated!) and continuing to show great passion for a sport he has been involved with for about as long as I’ve been alive; and 38 years after arriving at Marist as a scared and skinny freshman in August 1982, I’m still here.