Thanks

I never realized how much I look to Thanksgiving as a passage into Autumn. A time to start reconnecting with family & friends after the frantic, flighty summer.

And while it might be Decorative Gourd Season all over the Northern Hemisphere, England doesn’t have Thanksgiving.

Photo by Reclamation Revolution on Flickr

We’ve started down the road to amassing a collection of acquaintances, but are still a bit thin in the friends department. Family is 1/3 of a world away.

Thanksgiving this year meant one more hurried, nondescript meal in the midst of unpacking our newly arrived belongings, and homesickness.

I do have so much to be thankful for here. The experiences we’re having, the people we’re meeting. Our things have arrived without damage and without any additional customs duties. Despite our extended family and friends being spread far and wide, our little nuclear unit is all here, healthy and happy.

I told someone online a little while back that our move has been 80% awesome, 12% frustrating, and 8% lonely.

Reading Facebook and twitter updates, seeing statuses and photos about friends and family gathered around tables of turkey, just happened to make me feel that 8% a little more keenly than the rest.