Off the Top of My Head: Giving Thanks

I am thankful I live in California. Can I get an amen for that? And, to be more specific, I am thankful I live in Sonoma County.
I am thankful I am able to swim almost every day. It is an instant reminder of how lucky I am. There are children in the world who do not have clean water to drink and I am swimming in it. This helps keep life in perspective.
I am thankful I live in California because we are, and have always been, a multicultural group of people. Before the ’49 gold rush the population in California was minimal. Once gold was discovered people flocked to the San Francisco Bay Area from all over the world. And although most of the prospectors found little gold, many did find a place to live. They built homes and cities and did so regardless of their neighbors.
Some say that California not only accepts multiculturalism, it celebrates it. That may be a bit of a public relations spin. One thing is for sure, we do accept multiculturalism. The other thing we seem to do quite well is we have a large dose of tolerance for those not like us. I am thankful to live in an area of tolerance.
Before we moved to California in 1975, my wife and I lived on a farm in Southern Illinois. Our landladies were pleasant enough but they did tell the neighbors, “Karen is so nice; too bad she married out of her race.”
I am Mexican-American. Karen, my wife, is Anglo-American. In the 1970s in the Midwest we were considered an interracial couple. (Judging from the recent election we may still be viewed that way in the Midwest).
We weren’t farmers by birth. We were part of the “back to the land” movement in the 1970s. We had saved some money while working in Chicago so we didn’t need, for a while, outside jobs while living on the farm.
We grew our own food, had no phone or TV. It was a great life. The peace and serenity, having no close neighbors, no bosses, just us and the elements was so sweet. But neither of us likes cold weather and during an Illinois winter no amount of heat can keep an old farmhouse warm. We decided to move to a warmer climate.
We had tried earlier in our marriage to live in Florida. We weren’t comfortable there. It was just too racist, sexist and homophobic. I wasn’t about to move to the Southwest (where brown-skinned people were treated like blacks in the South – at least that was my perception at the time). So, we came to California.
Our first days in California we saw mixed couples of all race combinations. We saw blended race children. We saw openly gay people walking the street without trepidations. It was a great relief to me. No longer would my being with a white woman be a life threatening situation. I would no longer have to view everyone who approached me as a potential threat.
After this recent election, I hear myself reminding people that we have so many good things for which to give thanks: family (blood and/or chosen), friends (human or animal), the fact we eat regularly and have a roof over our heads, these are all things for which to give thanks.
I love Thanksgiving, because it causes all of us to stop and remember to give thanks. If you are reading this column before Thanksgiving, I hope you have a very pleasant holiday. If you are reading this after Thanksgiving, I hoped you survived.
Gabriel A. Fraire has been a writer more than 45 years. He can be reached through his website at: www.gabrielfraire.com.