Being Thankful

Snow Geese resting before dawn at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, Virginia (click to enlarge)
Nikon D810, Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6 lens @ 230mm; 1/15th sec. @ f/9; ISO 800

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the United States.  It is the day we officially set aside to be thankful for all our individual and collective riches.  Some have more riches than others, but I believe even the most destitute can find something for which to be thankful.  Maybe for life itself.  For those of you who are not familiar with Thanksgiving in the United States, you can view a video and read some additional information about Thanksgiving at History.com.

I will take exception to the commonly written history of Thanksgiving as the first formal gathering to "give thanks" was held two years earlier (1619) at Berkeley Plantation in Virginia.  An article about the real first Thanksgiving can be found here.  History is written by those who control the ink and paper.  As we know through our more and more sophisticated science and discoveries today, history is rewritten constantly.

I normally don't write personal things on this blog, but I wanted to interject one personal note for Thanksgiving.  I try my best to live a thankful and grateful life—everyday.  I have been blessed in many more ways than I ever deserved.  I have risen to the top of my profession—twice. I've enjoyed much success in all facets of my life.  I have a strong faith, a wonderful and beautiful family and great friends.  I have relatively good health for a guy that will turn 65 in a month.  I really want for nothing.  As I said, I realize how blessed I have been throughout my life and I am thankful everyday for those blessings.

One thing I try now to do is to help others as much as possible.  I certainly didn't achieve all my success by myself.  Lots of others helped me in a variety of ways along my path of life.  Taken as a whole, I largely owe much of who I am today and what I have achieved to all those in my life that took the time to pass on their knowledge, experiences, mistakes, etc., for my benefit.  

This blog is one small attempt to pass on my 46 years of photo knowledge to others.  If I can help others become better photographers and achieve their goals, than that is very meaningful to me.  If I can help others enjoy photography as much as I have, that is great. Beyond this blog, I try help anyone who asks as I choose to help them achieve their dreams as I have achieved mine.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time for family and friends to come together and be thankful. I try to be thankful everyday and remember that life could have been very differently for me if it weren't for the counsel and support of others, hard work on my part, dreaming big and getting up repeatedly when knocked down.  For all the blessing that have come my way, I am thankful and grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving and I am thankful for all of you who read my blog.

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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