We are part of The Trust Project.
By John Stone
Thanksgiving is the start of a season that reminds us to appreciate what we have and hope for in the future. The season runs through the start of the new year and is a time for reflection for the good that has come our way and the good we can see coming in the new year.
We just completed elections across our nation for positions ranging from school boards to city and county officials to state officials and members of Congress. And most people seem satisfied that the election was well run and the results honest.
Better yet, we saw some people in high profile races who were not winners this election cycle graciously concede and acknowledge that the voters had spoken and they abide with their decision.
We are mostly over the worst parts of COVID but need to keep a wary eye lest we allow it to get a grip on us again. It has been a long haul, but life has mostly returned to normal. It has been a joy to gather in groups again and travel here and abroad. At the same time, we need to remember those for whom life is not returned to normal, the long COVID sufferers whose prognosis remains somewhat up in the air
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Our health care systems seem to have returned closer to normal after the stress placed on them treating COVID patients. We are so thankful for the work our health care workers did to through the medical portion of this pandemic.
Most people who want jobs can have their choice of positions and many have had the opportunity to advance their levels of responsibility and compensation. This has been a unique period of time in this respect.
It appears that inflation, probably caused by the COVID pandemic and its many related issues like supply chain disruptions and even the pandemic relief money, is leveling off and dropping in some areas. We can all hope that the actions to tame this financial issue can result in lower inflation without a recession.
Our area farmers, who appeared to be headed for a not so good year because of our wet spring, rallied to have not only good crop yields but also strong prices for their efforts. A bonus was the dry harvest weather that allowed crops to go straight to the elevator or storage bins without drying.
Our many area manufacturing facilities seem to have healthy order books.
Our many educational systems are operating with full schedules for both classwork and extra-curricular activities.
We can be thankful the price of full gas tanks has been heading down.
We can be thankful we have electricity, water and food unlike many in Ukraine and other places in the world where war or other leadership failures have led to famine. We sit in our warm homes with lights and heat and food in the refrigerator that we can heat up in our electric stoves. Many around the world are not so fortunate.
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Life may not be perfect here but we are so much more secure and well off in so many ways compared to many other humans on this planet. Let’s be thankful and appreciate what we have!
John Stone is the former mayor of Glenwood and former publisher of the Pope County Tribune and Starbuck Times. In the Know is a rotating column written by community leaders from the Douglas County area.
