I had every intention of sitting down this morning and writing down all of the things I'm thankful for but Arlo Guthrie "Alice's Restaurant" keeps running through my mind.
"You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant. It's a song about Alice ... and her restaurant. It's not the name of the restaurant. It's the name of the song," which is why it's called "Alice's Restaurant."
It's a Hymn about Thanksgiving and the fact that in the 1960's if you were convicted of a crime such as littering, you wouldn't be eligible for the draft. The Vietnam War was waging at the time and nobody wanted to go. They wanted to stay home for Thanksgiving like everyone else.
It's a hilarious romp about micromanagement of public policy, law enforcement and the military.
Fast forward fifty years and things are pretty much the same.
Politicians are taking a day off from enacting stupid rules. Law enforcement are giving tickets. And the military are off fighting wars for the politicians. The politicians give thanks while the rest of us pay tickets with money we don't have, mourn our sons and daughters who are missing the day or just sit counting what's left.
Just like the garbage in the bottom of the church where Alice lived, religious leaders keep quiet about all of the above, rendering unto Caesar and all of that. (Sure there are a few exceptions among the clergy, but only a few.)
In the end, it's a happy song. "You can get anything you want ..."
Well, you can and you can't.
Everything you have has cost you a lot.
Everything you've lost has too.
Yet here we are on this Thanksgiving Day. Most of us have family to see ... there are good smells in the house ... it's a day of rest (except for all of the work of putting on the perfect gathering), and there's thanking God, Clergy, politicians, law enforcement and such.
What would we be without them?
Sarah walks by to check the bread she's baking and kisses me on the check. Goddess nudges the door open with her nose and rubs herself against my leg. The sun is shinning. The heat is on. The house is a wreck. Disney is celebrating the day on television (LOUDLY). My kids are all good and happy. Sarah and I are off to Key West soon to hook up with Joey Finch (whose been raised from the dead). Then there's Christmas.
It's all pretty good when ... you can get anythings you want.
