I do appreciate and am thankful we live in such a beautiful area. I’ve traveled the country numerous times(driving) and I don’t think there is a more beautiful area than the Sierras. Of course, every area has beauty. I loved living in Tucson in the 70’s with the saguaros, ocotillos and, the native American vibe. I also loved Santa Fe with its amazing architecture. Having grown up in NY, I did love the woods behind our house where I spent many hours but overall, to me, the East Coast is weathered and old and the towns seemed so close together. Of course, we have LA and San Francisco in California but where we are we have lots of national forests and space. I need space. I need space around me.

I am thankful then for being able to drive to Roseville( lots of people) to go to the pool but then in 20 + minutes be back home with space around me.

I’m so grateful that my children are happy and have good jobs which they love. They both found ways to pay for their educations and were lucky to get good jobs. My daughter won a full scholarship to UC Santa Cruz. And for her Library Science degree, she did some student loans. My son cash flowed his degree at CSUS and is now employed by the state. I’m very proud of them for their accomplishments. Nothing was just handed to them but we didn’t have the money anyway. I’m sure if we did we would have paid gladly. We did help where we could with buying books, and other things we could swing.

I’m grateful for a supportive husband who does so much around here. He just finished most of the weed eating and it’s a lot. Two of our neighbors haven’t done any weed eating and their grass is 1 1/2 ft high and a fire danger. Hopefully, they will get to it.

Having gratitude for the small things in life, I think, makes all the difference in the world. Yes, when the big things come along it’s easy to be thankful for those but it’s really the everyday small things that make all the difference. Watching the sun come up at an earlier time every day, the way the light is changing in the evening to that Maxwell Parish blue this time of year, and a thousand other ways to appreciate the life we’re given.

On a political note, I’m thankful that the judge in tRumps trial is fair and ruling with the law on things such as the gag order. Anyone else would be sitting in jail for contempt of the court.