CARLTON FLETCHER: Being thankful for a few of my favorite things

I just want to stop and thank you baby …

Marvin Gaye

Fifty or so things to be thankful for while you wait for that first wave of lunch to settle before hitting the dessert table:

— At least the political campaigns are now thankfully over … but the lawsuits and the rhetoric just keep on coming.

— New albums by Mumford and Sons, Smashing Pumpkins, The Posies, Chris Cornell, Coldplay, Mandolin Orange, a Fleetwood Mac career retrospective, Van Morrison, John Mellencamp and “Springsteen on Broadway.”

— New books by Michael Connelly (Bosch), Lee Child (Reacher), Stephen King and John Grisham … all released on the same day!

— Electricity … hot water … refrigeration … HVAC.

— Dr. Phillip Roberts.

— Friends — real friends — the ones who stand beside you, right or wrong, good or bad, not the ones who walk when the going gets tough.

— That you don’t have Kellyanne Conway or Sarah Huckaby’s job.

— Beatles music, which remains as good today — better even, when compared to what else is available — as it was in the ’60s.

— Freedom to be different and be you — even if so many would love to deny you that right.

— Pets that love you unconditionally, just the way you are.

— People who disagree with you but respect your right to your opinion.

— “Black” by Pearl Jam.

— Veterans … the men and women who survived the horrors of war honorably in service to their country and especially the ones who didn’t survive.

— “Cool Hand Luke.”

— Parents who love their children; children who love their parents.

— Repeated viewings of episodes of “The Wire,” “The Office,” “Seinfeld,” “Andy Griffith,” “The Sopranos.”

— Stevie Wonder.

— Term limits.

— Elton John … Led Zeppelin … Paul Simon … Eminem … Metallica … REM … Johnny Cash … Marvin Gaye … Queen … The Stones … The Temptations … Prince …

— Chemotherapy … a hell that allows you to walk out the other side.

— Newspapers … Trust me, America needs real journalists now more than ever.

— Fruit … cherries, grapes, watermelon, oranges … ahhh, thank you, Mother Nature.

— BS detectors. With so much of it at almost every turn, we need these to be working constantly.

— SNL’s “Weekend Update.”

— Second chances … and third … and fourth …

— Concerts. I pity the fools who never take the opportunity to see music performed live.

— Hendrix’s “Star Spangled banner” at Woodstock.

— Chinese food … especially buffets when you’re real hungry.

— Women who know how to wear a pair of jeans.

— “Dark Side of the Moon.”

— The beach just as the sun’s going down and a sea breeze is blowing in.

— If you’re a baseball fan — in particular an Atlanta Braves fan — Ronald Acuna jr.

— TV remotes.

— Genuine spirituality — people whose faith burns bright enough to drown out the noise and the blasphemy of the false prophets and phony preachers who use religion to dupe gullible people who are desperately seeking something meaningful in their lives out of their money.

— Nights of peaceful, uninterrupted sleep.

— Boiled peanuts, cooked salty and tender.

— Coke … the drink.

— A Saturday afternoon of football watching with just the right snacks, no responsibilities and no damned cellphones.

— The smell of clean clothes after they’ve just come out of the drier.

— Memories … the ones you can call up at a moment’s notice that allow you to remember what it is about this life that’s so great anyway.

— High school athletes who play their games and compete for the pure fun of it … not to get a scholarship or a new contract or even more recognition.

— “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”

— A spaghetti dinner with meat sauce that’s cooked just right with a crisp salad to get things going.

— People who smile at you for no apparent reason.

— The library.

— That movie deal that lets you see three new releases a week without having to sell blood or take out a second mortgage.

— That Hank Voigt’s got the streets of Chicago covered … even if it is just a TV show.

— Steve, Jordan, Hannah, Sam, Lily, Amelia … all reasons to be.

Email Carlton Fletcher at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ABH_Fletcher.