A holiday cornucopia of thanks

Thanks.

It's a simple word spoken so often, sometimes routinely or even absentmindedly, sometimes earnestly.

Today is one of the times we give thanks earnestly. No matter how lavish our Thanksgiving feasts today, or how simple our holiday fare, it bears repeating once again that it's an appropriate time to take stock of our blessings.

We're thankful we live in an area where neighbors still care about neighbors, and rally around those less fortunate.

Most Flathead Valley residents are willing to go out of their way to help a friend or stranger who's fallen on hard times. When the Daily Inter Lake prints stories about families or individuals who lose their homes and belongings to fire or are incapacitated by any number of tragedies, more often than not we get calls from readers wondering how they can help. We're thankful for that compassion.

We're thankful for a robust local economy. Signs of growth are everywhere - new residential subdivisions throughout the county, expansion of area hospitals and health-care facilities, strong retail growth in every direction. Though there are naysayers about the rapid pace of growth in the Flathead, and land-use issues we still need to work through, rest assured that much of the rest of Montana would like to have our growth problems.

The Flathead Valley is still one of the best places anywhere to call home, and for that we're thankful.

We're thankful Kalispell residents are willing to invest in their children's education. The bond issues that passed for an expanded junior high and a new high school are evidence of the support education has in this community. Voters in the Swan River School District likewise made an investment in their community with passage of a bond for a new gymnasium.

Children in years to come will give thanks for the foresight to build these facilities.

We're thankful we escaped a repeat of the 2003 forest fires that ravaged so much wilderness land. It snowed this week, and it's not just skiers who are thankful. This area is rich in outdoor recreation opportunities, and people are getting anxious to snowshoe, snowmobile and ice-fish their way through the winter.

The sacrifices being made by our men and women in the military can't go unmentioned this Thanksgiving. As the war in Iraq and military missions in Afghanistan continue, we give thanks to every soldier serving America.

We're thankful we live in a free country that has been united and not divided by terrorism.

Freedom still rings in America, and for all that implies, we say thanks.

Thanks.

There it is again, that one little word with a mountain of meaning. Say it often today, but not just today. As Americans, our thankfulness should be ever-present, because we've been richly blessed.

Have a happy Thanksgiving… and thanks.