I'm thankful for...

Through the years in this space(28 and counting, by the way), I've written Thanksgiving columns on several occasions. Still, it seems a while since the last one.

So, being Thanksgiving week--it seems like it should get a full week, or at least my wife needs a week (or more) to prepare, execute, then recover--I'm going to share some things I'm thankful for.

I'm thankful for being able to practice football on Thanksgiving Day.   It's become almost a tradition at Maryville High School, although I don't think anybody takes it for granted.  14 straight years of Thanksgiving Day practice.

For the kids, it is always a new team, with new seniors and new starters, so it remains new and fresh to them.  For the coaches, it just simply doesn't get old because it is why they do what they do.   Or at least a big part of it.

Let me tell you why it is such a wonderful day to practice football.   It means we're still playing, with the semi-final game the next day.  It means that we are one game away from the state championship game.  It means that we get to sit together as staff and players and share breakfast and memories and maybe remind each other what we're truly thankful for.

You see, after spending 18+ weeks (over 4 months) together, you develop a bond...a brotherhood, if you will.  For the staff, it's another year of a friendship that transcends football. 

And, much to my wife's dismay, it means that I miss out on a lot of Thanksgiving honey-do's.   I get up early, head in to football practice, and return home just in time to join the festivities already in progress.

Yep, pretty good day in my book.

I'm thankful for all those grandbabies around these days.  My oh my, it is wonderful.  When the 2 year-old runs screaming "Daddy Joe" when I show up at her house, well it doesn't get any better than that.

It sounds hokey or at least a cliché, but I'm thankful for being able to live in Blount County, a place that just can't be beat.  Part of that is the geography but mostly it's the people.   This is a truly great community of folks that make it so.

I'm thankful for good health and hope that I never take it for granted.  I sometimes think that I can do anything because of all the time I spend on the bike but I thankfully have a good doctor to take care of me and keep me straight (although he might not always take his own medicine).

I'm thankful for the good restaurants we have around here.  Everything from Dancing Bear(after they build it back better than ever) and Foothills Milling to Full Service BBQ and the Bread of Heaven truck.  Goodness knows I like to eat (it's part of the reason I exercise 7 days a week).

I'm thankful for Benton's bacon, Cruz Farm milk, grass-fed beef, free-range chicken, Whitt's baked wings, and Haagen-Dazs Sea Salt Caramel gelato (Oh. My. Goodness....You've got to try that one).  

I'm thankful for green grass, fall leaves, the Smoky Mountains, and amber waves of grain.  I'm thankful for smooth roads, trustful friends, rolling hills, a tolerant spouse, and a good bike shop.

I'm thankful for a good education, parents that did it right, and children who still let me be a big part of their lives.