I’m thankful. Despite everything that’s going on in this country and around the world, I’m thankful. It is easy to overlook blessings, so I invite all of you to take stock of what you have. Health, family, friends, a roof over your head. If you think about it, you have something to be grateful for. It’s easy to focus on the negative. Today, focus on what is positive in your life.

When I was 11 or 12, I had a little dog that I trained through obedience school.

Douglas County Libraries has learned some things. Beginning with our experiments in Roxborough, then Lone Tree, we discovered that a combination of self-check technologies and displays meant that we could move far more books, movies, and music with the same staff and space. In fact, we have almost 7 percent fewer staff this year than last.

This is a special time of year for Colorado, when at sunrise, as that big ball is almost entering the eastern horizon, illuminating its brilliance only on those snow covered peaks high enough to embrace the sun’s glory, bouncing an orange glow against the majesty of the mountains, providing us early risers with the most amazing wake-up call to start our day.

“Never judge a book by its cover.” Most of us have heard the adage countless times in our lives. It seems to make so much sense, and few of us would disagree.