Page 2 - SCG 11-15.indd

Dear Readers,
And for those who don’t make a Living Wage - there are people championing the cause of getting them paid fairly for the time they spend working. Someone has someone else’s back. We are not alone.
We’re heading into Holiday Season and aside from the joy of laughing children, colored lights and a sense there’s an impending vacation from reality...my favorite part is taking time to be grateful for what works.
I asked readers via Facebook - what good causes you support with your time...volunteering - and money... donations. Good-hearted people love to help other people - that’s primary. And good-intended people work very hard at taking care of where we live. We’re putting together a list of what readers support so that we can pass that info on to others who want to do something that helps our community.
Amidst all the bad news there is good news. Yes, there are people who are suffering every day in every part of the earth...and there are people trying to help them as well. When the Valley Fire hit Lake County, people helped in every way they could and they are still helping. It will take a long time for people’s lives to settle into the new path they must now take.
There are homeless people trying to find shelter with winter coming on and there are people trying to find a way to shelter and feed them. Each city and town is working on a solution that everyone can live with.
In the mean time - the Big Deal is to be THANKFUL and GRATEFUL for what works in our lives. Taking the time to acknowledge and appreciate the people we love who love us & the community we share. If we get really big we can stand all the way back and take a look at the earth that provides us home amid this cast Universe. How incredibly lucky we are!
Out on the Russian River where I live we have people camping along our waterways and leaving huge piles of debris. And there are people cleaning it up so that it won’t get washed downstream when rains begin. Problems seek solutions.
We live in a climate that is not harsh - we are surrounded by beauty - all we have to do is look up and out to see it. We have plentiful food of very high quality to eat - if we choose. And we have freedom to make choices that others can’t even dream of.
So here we are - the majority of us - feeling pretty good about the fact that we have work that pays us - hopefully a Living Wage - homes to live in, clothes to wear and food to feed us. All the latter comes from the former - the employment that brings home a paycheck sufficient to pay our way.
Lucky Us!
2 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 11/15