Thanksgiving Day Heroes...

Thanksgiving 2014.

It is a quiet one with just Joni, Kylie and me home to celebrate it. Of course, I'm still kind of getting used to this idea of having a normal 9 to 5, weekends-and-holidays-off job. It is abnormal for me to have such a normal life. So many take if for granted to have weekends and holidays off. Just like so many take it for granted to go to bed at night and not have to work a job that makes you stay awake all night, being alert while the rest of creation slumbers.

In one sense, that makes me a recovering nurse. Recovering from the weird schedules, endless hours and major holidays worked. All of that takes a toll on one's health. And on one's family.

And so I think of all those public servants who work taking care of others on the holidays, weekends and nights. They sacrifice a whole lot just so that the rest of us are taken care of. Bless them. They are heroes. My friend, Jaime O'Neill had a column recently that said much the same thing. As usual, he is right.

Joni was lauded by the CNR as a hero for her courage and pluck when she took on the Big Oil people in court. If life ever imitated a Frank Kapra movie, Joni doing her own legal research and having the guts to petition in court against million dollar lawyers certainly would qualify. She deserves all of the praise she has received for this brave act.

I watched her go through the whole process. She spent hours in the law library. She just said, after the Big Oil lawyers intimidated Butte County into withdrawing the petition, "Enough!" Although she was unsuccessful getting it on the ballot this election cycle, it will be on the ballot for the next election. Big Oil doesn't always win. We'll get to prove that in 2016.