The week of November 28, 2020 was wondering about words, BTS, enjoying the beginnings of a very mashy government; and digging into our favorite holiday hangover recipes, including turkey congee and soft boiled eggs.

This Thanksgiving is different than any other in our lifetimes, but at least one thing is constant: We are nothing if not thankful for you. Our offering to you: Endless, unabashed gratitude. Please enjoy this excerpt of one of our favorite poems, and know we’re grateful for each and every one of you.

Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude

…

we dreamt an orchard this way,
furrowing our brows,
and hauling our wheelbarrows,
and sweating through our shirts,
and two years later there was a party
at which trees were sunk into the well-fed earth,
one of which, a liberty apple, after being watered in
was tamped by a baby barefoot
with a bow hanging in her hair
biting her lip in her joyous work
and friends this is the realest place I know,
it makes me squirm like a worm I am so grateful,
you could ride your bike there
or roller skate or catch the bus
there is a fence and a gate twisted by hand,
there is a fig tree taller than you in Indiana,
it will make you gasp.
It might make you want to stay alive even, thank you;

…

And thank you, too. And thanks
for the corduroy couch I have put you on.
Put your feet up. Here’s a light blanket,
a pillow, dear one,
for I can feel this is going to be long.
I can’t stop
my gratitude, which includes, dear reader,
you, for staying here with me,
for moving your lips just so as I speak.
Here is a cup of tea. I have spooned honey into it.

…

Goodbye, I mean to say.
And thank you. Every day.

— Ross Gay