Happy Thanksgiving, Surf City

DANETTE GOULET

Happy Thanksgiving, Huntington Beach.

It’s that time of year again, when the crunch of the holiday

season is upon us. And it is a whole season. Once Halloween hits and

the Christmas decorations go up, you know it has begun.

Time to cook, time to shop, time to buy cards, put off writing

them and forget to mail them out. Or is that just me? To top it off,

this year, I’ve also misplaced my address book.

But before the stress of Christmas closes in, today is

Thanksgiving -- a stress unto itself. Many people are flying, driving

or otherwise commuting to relatives’ houses today, which is always

tiring. There is the decision for many couples, which house do you go

to? Or do you run from one to another? And then there’s always the

annoying aunt, uncle, cousin or in-law to deal with.

Or perhaps they are all coming to you, which means cooking for

hordes and cleaning up after them.

But wait, this is not what the day should be. It’s a day to stop

the hectic schedule of your life, put grudges and disputes on hold

and count your blessings.

It is a day to be thankful. Be thankful for your health and your

friends and family. Heck, if nothing else, be thankful you’re not

being asked to share a meal with your sworn enemy, like the Pilgrims

and Indians did. That must have been a meal more tense than any you

or I have been through.

And so today, the first thanksgiving in years that I haven’t

worked, I won’t criticize or critique any of our local politicians,

but say thank you to them. They put themselves out there by taking

public office in an effort to make the city a better place for us all

to live. They don’t do it for the big bucks, they do it because they

care.

Huntington Beach is filled with caring people, as is evidenced by

the numerous volunteer organizations and civic-minded souls. I think

we can all be thankful for the community we live in today.

Enjoy your day, Surf City, and thank you.

* DANETTE GOULET is the city editor. She can be reached at (714)

965-7170 or by e-mail at danette.goulet@ latimes.com.