A lot to be thankful for

By PAUL CAMPOS

America’s Thanksgiving holiday is part of the practically universal human custom of holding harvest festivals. It’s one of the odd features of the human psyche that often people who have the most to give thanks for forget to do so, while people who have much less are more likely to appreciate what they do have.

In an effort to overcome that tendency, I’m going to acknowledge that I have far more to give thanks for than I usually realize.

With that in mind, here are just a few things and people I’d like to give thanks for as another year slips into its final weeks.

(This is a highly eclectic and far-from-comprehensive list. Some readers may consider it nothing more than a collection of random musings. Perhaps it is.)

UMy family.

UThe bleachers at Wrigley Field in Chicago on a hot summer afternoon. (And I’m not even a Cubs fan.)

UBrian Wilson, for writing two perfect songs, “Caroline No” and “God Only Knows.”

UJames Wright’s poem “Lying in Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota” (look it up).

UThe University of Michigan football stadium on a fall afternoon, even when the team is terrible.

UThe products of America’s microbreweries, in particular Dale’s Pale Ale of Lyons, Colo., and the many great products of Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo, Mich.

UThe Gettysburg Address.

UThe American people, for having come far enough in overcoming the legacy of racism to elect an African-American president of the United States.

UThe privilege of living in a largely free, immensely rich nation, with no war nearby.

UYouTube and the many other things on the Internet that have made so much information and conversation and art available to people all around the world.

UThe tree-lined paths in the southwest corner of Central Park in New York City, near Columbus Circle.

UOne particular person who is reading these words now.

Happy Thanksgiving.

X Paul Campos is a law professor at the University of Colorado.