Thankful Thoughts

 Here in the USA it is Thanksgiving week. Folk are planning huge dinners, forming shopping strategies and figuring out ways to juggle the in-laws and the outlaws. Many are collecting their thoughts about being thankful. I thought maybe this week I could write daily blog posts on that subject. Actually, I decided to focus my thankful thoughts, at least for the first part of the week on the media.
I was writing a reply on Paperclipping Round Table, http://www.paperclipping.com/category/roundtable/, one of my on-line haunts, that inspired this set of potential essays.
I really am thankful for my on-line communities. So many good friends, not all close; but, all meaningful. I think the early stages of retirement from an intensely time consuming job like I had could be very lonely. I simply have not felt that and think my on-line friendships are part of the reason why. A number of the on-line friends have become in-person friends, too and the on-line connection has helped some other friendships remain viable through time. Even family seem closer. We may not be invited to everything that happens in our grown children's and grandchildren's lives but we do see the pictures on Facebook. Oh, sometimes we can feel left out of some things; but' we'd feel those emotions even without FB. At least, we know what we missed!
For some individuals the electronic environment has been isolating and destructive. Hours of on-line poker for money could clearly be detrimental, I could not even imagine what that must be like. However, when one has a physical limitation the internet can be a godsend.
Just a short post without dwelling on the subject overly much. Just want to be thankful for on-line communities in specific and the internet in general.
Life is good. I don't think it will be too difficult to find other things to write about for the rest of the week. Tommorow's subject will have to do with the newspaper.