Thoreau's Thanksgiving

Thoreau said his thanksgiving was perpetual.

On December 6, 1856, in a letter to his friend Harrison Blake, Henry David Thoreau wrote in part, "I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite. . . . My breath is sweet to me. O how I laugh when I think of my vague, indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it, for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment."

Happy Birthday, Petula Clark

On this day in 1932 British actress and singer Petula Clark was born in Ewell, Surrey, England. She is 90 years old.

In "Happiness (Le Bonheur)," a song on her 2017 album Living for Today, Petula Clark wrote:

Happiness

That sweet and fleeting feeling

We all need to know

Is waiting here inside us

All it takes is a smile or a song

Or the perfume of a long forgotten

Garden rose

It comes

It goes

Yes, this is happiness

Happiness is hearing Petula Clark singing.