This is the season for gratitude and thanksgiving…

If you read a recent front page story of the San Francisco Chronicle, you
would have read about a female Humpback whale who had become entangled in
a spider web of crab traps and lines.

She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to
struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope
wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso and a line tugging in her
mouth.

 A fisherman spotted her just east of the forlorn Islands (outside
the Golden Gate ) and radioed an environmental group for help.

Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was
so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her.

They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed
her. When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like
joyous circles.

She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged
them, pushed them gently around as she was thanking them.

Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives.
The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth said her eyes were following
him the whole time, and he will never be the same.

May you, and all those you love, be so blessed and fortunate to be
surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that
are binding you and may you always know the joy of giving and receiving
gratitude.