I Got Life

Today it’s cold but it’s gorgeous here by my ocean, all penny-tasting and heavy in the hand like that fat drop of mercury you once broke your mom’s thermometer to get. I’ve got this ocean anytime I want it, just 8 short miles to the east. And this little pond too, captured just as the sun came up this morning: I've got this pond.Outside my bedroom window I’ve got a tree that a boy named Roberto said he'd  help me plant in the spring of 1990 only he took off instead and I had to plant it myself, dig the hole, hoist that hefty root-ball and all 6 feet of trunk in the air, then feel it bonk me on the head when it slipped from my hands. I was sore at him that day. Said to myself "This is your tree, for good or ill, and it is ON ITS OWN now, to prosper or not."  Today it reaches past the second-story windows so yes I’ve got this tree.This is Roberto on the left and behind him Stan who I have been looking for without success for 15 years at least. They feel lost to me now, though I think of them often. The boy on the right is not lost to me however. That’s Chris, former State Champ in wrestling who  lives in Park Slope with his new bride Claire. Today is his 40^th birthday and as a present he asked me to get him two more Winchester High School Wrestling Team T's because after 23 years his two are finally wearing out. So I've got  Chris and I hope now Claire, and a double-armful of all the great kids David and I have raised and helped to raise, and a growing edge of grandkids too. I've got food and a bed and enough wrinkles around  my eyes that they almost disappear completely when I smile. And memories and a glad heart,like the saucy young star of the musical “Hair” here who is also clearly thankful for some dandy things himself. Happy Thanksgiving to all - and may you too dance on the dining room table before the day is past![youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1LRD3DtFAo]