Thanksgiving is one of the most reflective of holidays. At least it is for me. Sometimes about now I like to make a little list of some of the things I’m thankful for.

Not the big stuff necessarily. That’s sort of a given. Rather, some of the little things I’ve picked up on in my last trip around the sun. Little things, in no particular order, that especially when taken together, bring me pleasure.

• I’m grateful for the dozens of Monarch butterflies that seem to have found their way to our backyard this summer. For a long time they seemed nearly nonexistent. This year they were back, thanks in part, I’m guessing, to Patti Tiedemann of Crookston and her granddaughter, London Isakson, who raised and helped release hundreds of them this summer.
• I’m thankful for Dot’s Pretzels. Actually created by a real-life Dot in Velva, N.D., who started making them in her kitchen for family and friends during the holidays. Now she also makes them for all of us. She also makes a lot of money, I bet. Especially around here, they’ve become a “thing.” They have a buttery flavor missing from most other pretzels. Incidentally, they pair nicely with martinis.
• I’m grateful to Ken Burns and his associates for creating yet another masterful documentary series called “Country Music.” As someone put it nicely, it’s a country music series for people who don’t necessarily like country music.
• I am grateful for the millennials’ greatest “invention” to date, avocado toast. The downside for me is that I started liking avocados just as their price starting going up.
• I’m thankful for “Schitt’s Creek,” the Canadian television series created by Eugene Levy and his son, Dan, about a once wealthy California family down on their luck in the small town of Schitt’s Creek. Funny and warmhearted at the same time, it’s one of the best things on television in a long time. I’ll hate to see it end.
• I’m grateful for family, although sadly my immediate family members are all gone now, as are Ginny’s. We both come from small families, so seeing any family member is a treat for us.
• I’m thankful for new friends I’ve made in the past couple of years, some of them like Paul, Collin and Blue are a fraction of my age and already leaders in their community.
• I’m thankful for my former neighbor and friend Anna, who is 4½ but will be 5 “when there’s snow on the ground.” She thinks I’m something. And she always seems genuinely excited to see me. Anna agrees with me that it’s OK to be silly.
• I’m grateful to Ryan Cunningham and Jarrod Thomas of KNOX Radio for giving me, at my advanced age, a shot at the world of local talk radio for the first time.
• Finally, I’m thankful the man bun thing seems to be on its way out. Sadly, the mullet is making a comeback. Or so I’ve read.

So, that’s about it. Not that much really, I know, but when taken together make my days a little bit brighter. And given the gloomy weather we’ve been having around here lately, I’ll take everything I can get.

I would suggest that if you want to feel a little better about everything, you make a list, too. It’s Thanksgiving after all, so what could it hurt?