It was a short walk this morning. It wasn’t too early. Even though the sun had been up for a time, the day started out dim. It was cold, windy, gray. The clouds hung low, dark  and puffy, the rain had been rung out overnight.

Thanksgiving Day comes at the tail end of autumn. The leaves are mostly off the trees, leaving bare skeletons of trunks and branches, resting for a season until reviving again in spring. The flashy maples have already shed their load of leaves. It’s only the pesky oaks that are hanging on to their thick, brown leaves, thwarting the neighborhood leaf-rakers trying to close the books on their fall cleanup.

Overnight the wind whipped through the leaf cluttered oaks, bringing to mind waves on the bay. So my goal on this morning’s walk was to find some waves. The ten minute walk took me along a leaf strewn path into the teeth of a brisk wind. Down at the beach, lots of water, no crashing waves, more gray, summer put away for the season.

Today is Thanksgiving Day. I took a walk in the cold morning grayness. In spite of the gloom around me I thought about what there is for which I have to be thankful. Then, later, at church, I was reminded that the God to whom I pray my thanks is faithful, compassionate and sovereign. Today’s gift. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.