Thanksgiving Plans

I've been thinking that since I cannot fly without a copilot at the moment and since it is the holidays, I need a plan. So, I called my friends, Alan and Jennifer Montgomery, whom I met while in Pittsburgh. Alan is a professor at Carnegie-Mellon University and currently is on a teaching assignment in Doha, Qatar. That is only about a 3 and 1/2 hour flight from here. In fact, they are only two time zones away. They were thinking about coming here but then they have 6 people to travel and, at the moment, I am alone. I got on the phone today and checked and sure enough, they were staying home for Thanksgiving and Jennifer kindly invited me for dinner. I didn't have any idea what tickets might be like at the last minute but it turns out they weren't too bad if I arrived in the middle of the night. So, late Wednesday evening I will be boarding an international flight to Doha, Qatar, and spending a long weekend with Alan and Jennifer and family. The cool part is they were the ones who had the going away party for me in Pittsburgh last June so I will be reconnecting with my Pittsburgh friends, who were about the last ones I saw before I left. Alan and I had talked about getting together on the other side of the world but it was one of those things that might never happen. It probably wouldn't have except for my no-fly status at the moment. This is going to be so exciting!!

Had a nice time at the Sunday church today. The pastor there, Karl Smith, always comes up with great and thoughtful sermons. He is one of those guys who really puts a lot of thought and time into what he says up front and it definitely shows. Today he inspired me to put some kind of inspirational thought into each of my online offerings, whether it is a blog or a letter. He doesn't know that he did nor did he say anything direct, it just kind of occured to me that I would like to try it. Kind of just a thought for the day. Read and think or just ignore, whatever flips your switch. These sayings or phrases will almost always not originate with me, but are meaningful for me and I hope that they will give you pause for thought that will take you beyond the mundane, day to day thoughts that we all have. Maybe I have learned something in my life and maybe it can or will help you in some small way. If so, that would make my day, if not, then nothing is lost.

I have gotten a couple of letters from friends that are planning on getting together with family this week. Somehow, getting together at the holidays has become one of the things that we do. I remember the first Thanksgiving and Christmas that I spent in Botswana away from family in the Southern Hemisphere. With the warm weather and no family, it just seemed like any other day, so it is the relationships that make these times special. Take extra care and treasure each moment because they are so precious and few. I will be thinking about my family and where they are and what they are doing at this time. Karen will definitely be on my mind as she makes the final preparations to join me in India. I was the one who left her to clean up a lot of stuff left behind in the hurry to get over here to work. The love of a good woman is a treasure not taken lightly. My kids will also be in my thoughts. I am half a world away but thinking about them brings them closer, at least in my mind.

I hope that happiness is a big part of your days during this time of year. I will leave you with my thought for the day, which comes from another:

"When control enters a relationship, love is lost."

Wow!!

Take care and talk soon,

Dan