Belated Thanksgiving Wishes

Radishes, fresh from the garden, made a delicious addition to the Thanksgiving hors d'oeuvres.

 

 

Belatedly, I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!  As the holidays arrive here on Townville Street, my life becomes one chaotic blur and things fall by the wayside; things like blogging and gardening, among others!  This year, Thanksgiving, for my family, took place on Townville Street, which made things even more hectic than usual.  Hosting Thanksgiving, while monumentally exhausting for me, is infinitely rewarding, and as I ponder the myriad things in my life that I have to be thankful for, I find a surprising one.  As some of you already know, I struggle daily with fibromyalgia and a "mystery" auto-immune disorder.  As a result, even the most mundane activities can be painful and exhausting, and I am more and more frequently unable to participate in my favorite activities.  I may not have it in me to host many more holiday meals, and, therefore, treasure every opportunity.  The surprising thing for me, though, was realizing all of the ways my life has changed for the better since becoming ill.  In the beginning, when I first was diagnosed, I was convinced that my problems were genetic, as there has been a trend of auto-immune disease in my mother's family.  However, the more I researched the subject (not just fibromyalgia and auto-immune disease, but disease trends in general), the more convinced I became that the food we eat is contributing greatly to an increase in every type of disease.  And I came to the conclusion that all of the hormones, steroids, antibiotics, chemicals, and genetically modified organisms found in our foods today could not be good for anyone.  This revelation led to a complete revolution... in my eating and shopping habits, my methods for cleaning my house, my clothes, and myself, and took my organic garden from a mere 64 square foot afterthought, to the amazing urban "farm" that it is today!  Now, junk food never even makes it through the front door, "organic" is my default purchase in grocery stores, I clean my house with vinegar and baking soda (did you know that when you clean your house with chemicals, they are in every organ in your body in under 30 seconds?), I have eliminated parabens, sulfates, and other harmful ingredients in all of my health care products, and I have a nearly year-round source of organic produce from my garden.  In addition, becoming more educated about my food supply has also opened my eyes to the unbelievably inhumane practices in the meat industry and has turned me vegetarian for life.  That, in itself, has had a huge impact on my life.  As I became more and more ill, I also became less and less active....unable to hike, jog, work out, or, ultimately, do my job as a police officer.  As you can imagine, I'm sure, less activity led to more weight. I grew heavier and heavier.  Amazingly, after becoming a vegetarian, I quickly shed all of that extra weight!  So, at this time of year, when our thoughts turn to the blessings in our lives, let's look for blessings in unexpected places.  I am so happy that I did!

 

 Have a wonderful holiday season and a very, very Merry Christmas!