Our big goal is for Georgia to know that having more things doesn’t make a full life, and that we can be thankful for the things we do have. This results mostly in stealthy or overt battles against mass commercial consumer culture, but it has also brought some very nice, thankful traditions into our lives. For example, sharing food we’ve made or honoring the rain for what it brings: “Ah, another beyootiful, rainy day in Portland, Oregon! That’s what keeps it so green!”

My favorite tradition is finding gratitude every evening for something we’ve experienced that day. Every night we drink a toast, though some days it feels very hard to pinpoint something that we are thankful for, what with all the grown-up worries and Georgia’s pre-school experiments in parent-baiting. So it’s good to take a moment to realize how much we have, and how blessed we are.

“A toast!” I offer, in a frustrated mire as Georgia drops her blueberries into her water glass, “To frozen, organic blueberries, a yummy, good-for-us gift from the earth!”

We all clink, and Hova suggests, “To making the express bus!” Clink, clink, clink.

“To Vidia!” Georgia exalts.

“Vidia?” we ask. Vidia is a mean Never Fairy, foil to nicer (but still not fully sweet) Tinkerbell. Georgia has been thankful for ants, cats, pirate band aids, and once in a while, Daddy or Mommy, and though she is enthralled with the characters from the Fairy Haven books, we didn’t expect Vidia to appear in our moment of gratitude. (We actually enjoy the Fairy Haven books, written by fairy-master Gail Carson Levine, and four out of five parents prefer fairies to princesses.)

“Yes, I’m glad Vidia can’t come here and be mean to our cats!”

“To Vidia!” we cheer and clink.

Especially this time of year, when the sentiment is “Be Thankful” but the reality is “The only way you can be truly thankful is if you own this plasmammoth television,” it feels good to slow down and remember what really brings us lasting joy and meaning. If the answer is your television, maybe you want to think of ways you can connect with your world right after the Thanksgiving tryptophan wears off. What are you thankful for, and what would you like to be thankful for?

I am thankful for a little girl who constantly keeps me connected to what is important. Wanting a decent world for her challenges me to keep the larger picture in view when I am so often thinking only as far as my doorstep.

I am also so thankful for the Lime readers who have inspired me (great green ideas every week!), chastised me (I haven’t used a dryer sheet since! I feel so free!), and encouraged me to find things, big and little, that we can do to help heal our world. I give thanks for a community of people trying to make it all work, finding real world solutions for hectic lives, and toward daily balance and greener thinking.