Some things to be thankful for

It's that wonderful time of year again, when we can stop and reflect on all the things we have to be thankful for.

Experts are apparently getting closer to finding the scientific evidence for how gratitude can make us feel better and become kinder, gentler, less aggressive.

More of that couldn't hurt around here.

So in the spirit of the holiday, here are some things I would suggest we might all be grateful for:

• We can be thankful that Groton police will be on the lookout today not only for people who don't fasten their seat belts but people who drive and talk on their cellphones without hands-free devices.

Would it be risking the holiday spirit too much to hope that a lot of those people driving and talking on their cellphones get tickets?

• I know a lot of people in North Stonington are grateful that Anna Coit, who at the age of 103 is giving up the editorship of the North Stonington Historical Society's monthly newsletter, will continue to write for it.

Coit's North Stonington's Notes, wry and wise observations about life in rural eastern Connecticut, make the publication one of the region's best, right behind The Day.

• We can be grateful in New London that Mayor-elect Daryl Finizio hasn't had any press conferences this week.

It looks like maybe he'll wait to get sworn in before making too many more headlines.

We can also be grateful he's promised a lot of positive changes for the city, and he has a big mandate from city voters to put them in place. I sense an exciting 2012 in New London, even without including OpSail.

• City residents should be grateful for all the work that volunteers did to save Riverside Park as it exists today.

I know some who voted for the sale of part of the park to the Coast Guard might not see it this way now. But I suspect future generations in New London may look back and be grateful that such an impressive piece of undeveloped open space was preserved.

Mayor-elect Finizio should be expected to keep his word to work with the Coast Guard in helping meet their needs to grow over time in New London.

• Speaking of the Coast Guard, everyone in the region should be grateful for the work that's been done to lay the groundwork for a Coast Guard museum at Union Station in downtown New London.

I expect this might fall high on Finizio's to-do list. It would certainly look good some day on his list of his first-term accomplishments.

As for those who in the heat of the Riverside campaign suggested the Coast Guard Academy might leave New London, I would say that's nonsense. Who would replace the investment of the academy's substantial infrastructure here?

Would Harvard leave Cambridge?

• People in Connecticut can be grateful that none of our politicians in Washington have signed Grover Norquist's unpatriotic pledge not to raise taxes, no matter the needs of our country.

The representatives Connecticut has sent to Washington all seem to recognize the need to raise new revenues with fair taxes on those who can afford it, as well as to cut spending and entitlements.

That will be something to remain thankful for, as we all get swept to the edge of the next budget precipice, by those who will not compromise.

• We in eastern Connecticut can be grateful for being spared the worst of the Halloween weekend storm. We had only the memories of post-Hurricane Irene electricity outages to help us sympathize with the rest of Connecticut.

• On the subject of weather, I am grateful for a mild and pleasant fall that has drawn down very little of the heating oil in my tank.

• We can give thanks that Connecticut still finds money to protect open space, the latest big local acquisition being 16 waterfront acres in Stonington. Thanks to state lawmakers and the local Avalonia Land Trust, which will hold some of the deeds.

Thankfully, the state is on track to preserve 21 percent of its land mass, or 673,000 acres, by 2023.

• I would like to thank Meryl Streep for returning to this part of Connecticut to make a movie that I suspect we will remember and watch around here for many years to come.

Anyway, those are some suggestions.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Enjoy being grateful for whatever you like. Apparently it's good for you.

This is the opinion of David Collins.