Last week I talked about being thankful for my life and the things in it. Here on the Great Plains this morning it is 20 degrees with a howling north wind, ice, and snow. But my heater is working. The house is warm and cozy. And as is my habit in bad weather, I may bake. That is a habit I started when I had little kids, and I wanted to keep them occupied. Fill them with sugar! Maybe we should have played board games.

The phone rang early to tell me that my sister had fallen in the rehab center and was taken to the Emergency Room. She was x-rayed and returned to rehab, but they will call her surgeon in the morning. She has had a tough uphill battle.

But in writing about thankfulness, I did a little research on thankfulness vs. gratitude. Gratitude is a general appreciation of life, while thankfulness is a response to a particular event or experience. With the weather today and my sister’s experience overnight, I need a little of both.

Generally, I am an optimistic person. Like everyone else, I get down sometimes and overwhelmed by experiences in life. But my life, like my heater this morning, is good. Thankfulness takes a little more thought sometimes. Then I think I am thankful for the heater.

I am thankful that the winter storm should only last a few days. I have food in the house, a heater that works, and writing to do (always plenty of writing to do!). I know there are people who are not in as good a position as I am. I’ll say a prayer for my sister, it is all I can do.

I am optimistic that the winter storm will not last. I’ve seen enough Oklahoma winters to know things will change. You know the saying if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute, it will change.

We’ll all get through this weather. I’ll do laundry, write, and knowing me, I will bake. But most of all, I will be thankful for all I have. How about you? What are you thankful for? And what are you reading, writing, or creating this week?