Today on Context Florida:
For Thanksgiving, Chris Timmons reminds us, as Americans, to remember the gratitude for what we have: We still are the richest country in the world; we still do enormous good in global hotspots with our military presence; we still are the most generous country in the world. We can still revive an ideal of this country as free, fair-minded, tolerant, productive, gainful to all and generous. We can never attain it, Timmons says, if we forget the meaning of gratitude, for in gratitude we attain an accurate sense of ourselves, our good fortune and our obligations.
Florida’s pols owe plenty of thanks this holiday, says Peter Schorsch. From the diners and town halls of Iowa and New Hampshire to the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee and Charlie Crist’s waterfront condominium in St. Petersburg, politicians across Florida will gather at Thanksgiving dinner tables to celebrate the most American of holidays. For a presidential race featuring five candidates with ties to Florida, for a Legislature that would have difficulty organizing a two-car parade, and for a constant stream of zany “Florida Man” stories, count this and other political writers especially grateful. For there is no more interesting cast of characters or story lines than those found in the Sunshine State.
Thanksgiving is upon us and for some reason, people choose this time of year to travel and visit … A lot. Catherine Durkin Robinson travels quite often, staying with friends and relatives when she can’t find a decent hotel. Robinson brings her partner, children, their vegetarian attitudes and about 900 regurgitated sports analysis they want to explore and discuss – with someone who won’t fall asleep, ask for more wine, or switch to political topics instead. The fact that she is often both guest and host makes her uniquely qualified to spot decent ones almost immediately.