Enjoying record breaking 52 degree day

Snow boarding fun

Yesterday afternoon, when the weather warmed to 52 degrees Fahrenheit, people were enjoying the artificial snow at Elm Creek Winter Recreation Area in Maple Grove.

Nordic ski race

Given the extremely mild winter we've had thus far, some of the city lakes still have areas of open water. Global weirding is alive and well.  While many are thankful for the lack of snow and mild weather, those who work in industries that rely on snow are hurting big time.  An article in the StarTribune, Minnesota businesses are seeing red ink in brown winter, discusses some of the impact of the warm dry winter.

One outdoor winter enthusiast, Alison Gannett, has even started "The Save Our Snow Foundation", to demonstrate solutions to climate change that can be cost-effective, reduce pollution and increase energy security, while also saving our snowpack and our planet's ecosystems.

Stores encroaching on national holiday

     Seems that many of our nation's big store chains are moving up their "Black Friday" sales times, some even into Thursday evening.  Best Buy and Target are two stores that are being targeted by petitions to end this unfriendly employee practice on the website Change.org.  Following is the rationale for signing the Target petition being promoted by Change.org.  
     A midnight opening robs the hourly and in-store salary workers of time off with their families on Thanksgiving Day.  By opening the doors at midnight, Target is requiring team members to be in the store by 11 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. A full holiday with family is not just for the elite of this nation -- all Americans should be able to break bread with loved ones and get a good night's rest on Thanksgiving!

Join me in calling for Target retail stores to push back their original opening time of 5am on Black Friday.     
     There are thousands of others who are choosing to send a signal to stores that they're interested in avoiding all together the feeding frenzy of Black Friday.  Adbusters is promoting "Buy Nothing Day" on November 25th.  They are encouraging consumers to buy less, to buy local and purchase fair trade produce and or products. They've got a thought provoking question for the Christmas season... "What would Jesus buy?".