It's Wednesday, a mid-December morning, and I'm looking out my window at a dense fog and the temperature already at 47 degrees Fahrenheit. The forecast calls for a high of 57. It also calls for one to two inches of rain, winds of up to 50 mph and a significant chance of tornadoes. Even a few years ago, if I had heard this forecast on the radio or TV, I'd think I was hearing a wacko comic personality delivering some sick routine.
This past year alone, the changes in our climate have been far more dramatic than the changes enacted by our elected officials and our business elite. Yes, there is a front-end cost to moving rapidly away from fossil fuels. But think about what it's costing us if the speed at which our climate is changing exceeds the speed at which we respond to this crisis. It is not only our children who will suffer. It will be us as well, and sooner rather than later.
Greg P. Olson, Eden Prairie
HUNTING 'WILD COINS'
A way to connect with what matters
Robert Griggs' poignant opinion piece Dec. 15 on hunting "wild coins" helped me appreciate someone very near and dear to me who also enjoys the sport of walking and coin hunting ("The pandemic, mental health and hunting 'wild coins'"). He, like the writer, doesn't hunt coins for the money but more for the adventure. I hope he doesn't mind me giving away his hot spots, which are in the Whittier neighborhood. For him the curbside walking is the most rewarding. He revels in the neighborhood diversity and the exchange of smiles and greetings. I'm guessing it's not the coin he may find but knowing that all is well and that we are all more alike than different. He returns home often penniless but far richer in mental and physical health.
I'm beginning to appreciate a deeper understanding what's important this holiday season.
Mike Menzel, Edina
COVID-19
What an absolute mess
"Amen" to the very poignant and accurate letter to the editor from a respected health care professional who's living and working with children and their parents. Gov. Tim Walz and the Minnesota Department of Health, there is no longer any good reason to keep closing down schools for children who rarely get seriously ill from COVID. All teachers can and should be vaccinated by now. The ripple effect of these frequent school closures is causing untold damage to children, and the toll from work disruptions is beyond measure. As someone who needed emergency hospital service for cardiac issues just last week, I can testify that the impact of the unvaxxed causes massive chaos and slow service to understaffed, burned out caregivers and hospitals. It's time to put the unvaxxed at the back of the line and keep our schools open!
Christine Otteson, St. Paul