A winter ice storm with the possibility of snow accumulations is predicted for the Charleston area today so today I am grateful for that very rare Charleston winter storm. Although not quite as rare as hurricanes are (contrary to popular belief about Charleston) winter storms hardly ever break up the monotony of our string of clear 55 to 65 degree days that we usually experience in January and February. So when one does come, it is a spectacle worth appreciating. It is probably the fact that it is so rare here that makes something that could be dangerous to drive in and potentially could cause a power outage so special. Storms like this are taken for granted in the North and are just considered part of winter. In the South, these storms are all out media events providing great entertainment value, especially the local news with their field reporters all bundled up "on the scene" and their urgent advice to the huddled masses : "Stay indoors .... Cover your plants ... Drip your faucets... Don't shave your pets ...." The supermarkets were packed this morning with people buying milk, eggs, bottled water, etc. All schools and government offices closed early today and have already decided to close tomorrow. All flights in and out of Charleston have been canceled for the rest of today. All of this and as of 3PM, barely a drop of precipitation has fallen. So now we wait. It could be just a cold rain and a few flurries or it could be, as one local newscaster already declared: "A storm we will surely be talking about for years to come". So, I am grateful for this cold wintry day, the entertainment it has provided me and for the fact that I don't have to leave my cozy home until it all blows over. The fireplace is lit and we have plenty of eggs, milk and bottled water to get us through until the end of the week. By the way, forecast for Saturday is 66 and partly cloudy ... How boring.

I have often heard that the key to happiness is being grateful.  Inspired by a great entry "What is Happiness?" by Emily Kathryn in her blog Everything is Going to be OK, I have decided to reflect on just one thing that I am grateful for every day.  It could be something significant, or something trivial.   And it could be something that happens that day or something that happens almost every day.  All that matters is that it is something I am grateful for.

Today I am travleling from Montana to Charleston, so today I am grateful for airplane travel.  Sure, it's going to take all day including three separate flights, but the mere fact that I woke up this morning overlooking a frozen, mountainous lake vista and this evening I will be gazing out over a Lowcountry marsh is an amazing feat.

For those of you who have never stopped to ponder airplane flight, I am at this time sitting in a climate controlled cabin in a cushioned leather seat, sailing over mountains, deserts and bodies of water at roughly 500 MPH.  Someone will soon be serving me a drink and a snack and if I need to use the toilet just steps away is a facility that, although cramped and spartan by today's American standards, would be considered a luxury in many millions of homes around the world -- even today (but more on how grateful I am for toilets in a later blog)

Most of us don't even know how flight works (including me), let alone appreciate the miracle of it all and the people who came before us that worked out how to do it.

Just 100 years ago, this trip would have taken weeks by train, and 200 years ago it would have taken literally years.  It wasn't uncommon for births and deaths to occur during the trip.  Today, we complain when our flights are cancelled or delayed a few hours.  When Lewis and Clark were attempting to make it to Montana (and beyond) a winter weather delay forced them to make camp and wait it out -- until Spring!

Airplane flight has allowed me to see far more of the world than I ever could have without it and far more than my ancestors dreamed about.  It has also allowed me to be somewhere quickly in support of family and friends when they needed it most on more than one occasion.

So for something a lot of us take for granted, and regularly complain about especially when it doesn't work perfectly, I am extremely grateful today.

Now sit back, relax and enjoy your flight.