Being grateful isn’t always easy, but there is so much here to be thankful for, so I’m going to give it a try.

First, there is no finer place to be than this fair Isle. The dazzling beauty of this long warm fall, golden and glittering in different shades each day, and still knocking our socks off with color right up to the brink of December. The coziness of crunching leaves under our feet. The brilliance of the sea around us in its deep autumn shades of blue. The soft dimming of color itself as the season fades toward winter. Then a weekend of nourishing rain, just in time.

We have remarkable institutions here. Our library rates among the finest in the land, with free food and drinks, free music, games and lessons, ukulele strumming, canasta and opera. The library is throwing a holiday party Saturday, Dec. 7. from 2 to 4 p.m. Party guests will make cards and swag, as well as sensory snow, whatever that is. Music will be live and bouncy, and attendees are asked to bring a dish to share.

Our hospital is now able to provide services for people with serious illnesses, patients who — not long ago — had to go off-Island for testing and treatment, when they weren’t feeling so hot in the first place. Now a cardiac patient can take advantage of the gazillion-dollar equipment used for nuclear stress tests, overseen by a cardiologist who comes down from Mass General. Cancer patients are treated locally with chemotherapy, as well as biotherapy and immunotherapy, again by an oncology team from Mass General, before they make the short trip home to rest.

The thoughtfulness of neighbors and strangers here is remarkable. Letters appear almost weekly in our newspapers telling of an incident of kindness and/or generosity from a stranger.

And look at our school system. These are little schools with small numbers but big talents, and wonderful teachers who inspire and direct our student population so that a truly amazing percentage of graduates are welcome to attend the country’s finest universities.

The college kids are home for the holiday, some having made a side trip en route to watch the Harvard/Yale football game Saturday. Among the home-coming students are Annabelle Brothers, Hardy Eville, Ingrid Moore and her brother Huck Moore, all cheering for Yale, needless to say. After a week-long break, they will all back on campus for the grueling end-of-semester exams.

Birthday greetings this week extend to Nova Smith on Friday, Nov. 29, and to Violet Cabot Saturday, Nov. 30. Jenny Allen celebrates Dec. 2. Lorraine Wells and Amanda Cohen enjoy their day Wednesday, Dec. 4.

Some comments on the feast we are about to enjoy.

“If God didn’t intend for us to eat animals then why did he make them out of meat?” asked John Cleese.

“I haven’t even finished eating all my Halloween candy,” said Sally, in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

“I come from a family where gravy is considered a beverage,” wrote Erma Bombeck.

Happy Thanksgiving.