In the morning, as I slurp down a healthy dose of coffee…. I can flip on the TV…. tune in to the day’s news… fire up some fried eggs and oatmeal.   At night, I can sit at the counter and pay bills, while I listen to Pandora radio.  All of these things are luxuries.  Luxuries of having a home.

There is an awful lot to be said for having a place to call home.   A place where you can go at the end of the day, and know that is exactly where you belong.

I have had a lot of different homes in my lifetime.  Probably more than some folks… and certainly fewer than others.  Nonetheless, I have always had somewhere to go.  To rest my head at night…. and wake at the light of day.

For that I am thankful.

There are so many people in this world…. in this country….. in our very own communities…. who don’t have a place to call home.  For this… I am sad.

Most every place… every city and town… will be scattered with quite a few homeless people.  And then there are those who have a “place” but it isn’t very fit… for man nor beast.

Thankfully there are people in the world who truly care about this.  There are many individuals and organizations trying to allay homelessness.

Here in Preble County, we have the likes of the HIT Foundation, and that Mary Bullen …. try to figure out ways to alleviate homelessness and facilitate better housing.  For this… I am glad.

We all know… at our deepest of deeps… that home is the best place to be.  All creatures.  Great and small.  Give a dog a blanket, and he will curl up in it…  bring his favorite bone there… and make it his very own.  Give a toad a toad-house, and there he will sit, and sit…. until he croaks.

Shelter. Safety.  Family.  Home is where the heart is.

Yes… everyone deserves a decent place to live.  I am so very thankful for mine. (And our little toad… in HIS little Toad-house.)

As a sidebar.  We have Frog Protection.  I’m glad for that too.     Yes, I did say Frog Protection.

“Home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration.” – Charles Dickens