Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
In spite of the fact that Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations started going up in the stores in early
October, often times confusing the Halloween parties, I’ve always looked at this week as the start of what we call the “holiday season.”
It’s still a little too early for Christmas music, but I could stand to hear that old Thanksgiving classic, “Over the River and Through the Woods,” a time or two.
As I ponder what I just wrote, it dawns on me that today’s generation has never heard of the classic Thanksgiving song, “Over the River.”
More’s the pity.
On a much more serious note, the thing I am most thankful for this Thanksgiving is the fact that negotiations concerning the Ukraine-Russia war are beginning to seem more possible. No matter however short-lived or fleeting these dialogue possibilities seem now, at least some principals involved are initiating discussions that could lead to more involved talks, including the cessation of open hostilities.
I am not a person prone to unbridled optimism, but the potential to stop the killing, no matter how far-fetched, needs to be encouraged.
During this season of thanks please take a minute to pray that governments everywhere work to end wars wherever they exist. Put it on your prayer list.
I never thought that I’d write these words, but the years seem to fly by now, much quicker now than they used to. I can’t remember who said, “There are a lot of advantages to turning 80, but I can’t think of any of them right now.”
As for me, I am reminded of a quote from, “The Lion in Winter,” a play about English King Henry II, set around Christmas of 1183.
When asked, on his arising, how he felt, Henry replied:
“To be 50, and king, and alive …” the rest of the quote escapes me. In point of fact, I now understand exactly how Henry felt. To be 80, and still driving my car, and alive, is as good as it gets.
Thanks for my family, my friends, my doctors and those who take time to read the scribblings of a broke down old gunnery sergeant.
I couldn’t make it without you. Happy Thanksgiving!
I leave you with:
“Over the river and through the woods,
Trot fast, my dapple gray!
Spring over the ground,
Like a hunting hound!
For this is Thanksgiving Day.”
Rube Render is a former Clovis city commissioner and former chair of the Curry County Republican Party. Contact him: