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It was growing dark fast. I hurried to bag leaves for the city pick up in the morning. As I dragged a bundle to the curb, a young man carrying groceries stopped and asked if he could help me. My inclination was to say no — but he seemed earnest and there was this issue of leaves and fading light. I gratefully accepted and during our chore, working side by side, he answered my questions. Yes, he is a university student. Yes, he lives in the neighborhood. "How is school going for you?" I asked. "I am a bit lonely," he admitted. He insisted on not only the yard leaves, but the driveway, and bagging the muck in the street. When we stopped, he refused to allow me to pay him. Turns out he is from Iran and a Ph.D. candidate in electrical engineering. I hope I see him again — if only to thank him in daylight.

I have worked with international students, and the quiet truth is most feel lonely. An oft-cited study reveals 75% of foreign students return to their countries without ever having seen the inside of an American home.

I wonder this evening if our friendly encounter meant more to me, or to him.

Especially when the world is tilted in wars and unspeakable strife, this student is someone's son and someone's brother. He is far from home and, yes, he worries about his family. Are they relieved he is in the U.S.? Or do they read about Islamophobia and fear for him?

I wish they could see him — not doing research in his lab, or cooking alone in his apartment, but demonstrating what it is like to be a good neighbor, on a leafy street in Minneapolis.

Jill Griffiths, Minneapolis

Paul Krugman suggests that former President Donald Trump should take a tour of Queens, N.Y., to see the contributions of new Americans to that community and our economy ("Immigration made America great. Trumpism is the poison," Opinion Exchange, Nov. 15). A walk through Minneapolis, Worthington or any other U.S. city or town would show the same thing: that the development and growth of our communities and economy depends on immigrants. They staff local businesses at all skill levels, fuel entrepreneurship, bring life to Main Street and are a bridge to world trade. Krugman's recommendation would be better targeted and more timely if he included all of the members of the U.S. House and Senate. Their failure to act on immigration reform is just as damaging to our nation as Trump's plans for mass deportation and miles of new border walls.

Bill Blazar, Minneapolis

When it comes to the weather, I have always believed that understatement is a sign of resilience. I once took a bike trip along the Oregon coast where I survived what I considered a Melvillian storm. The next morning I tried having a small chat with a local. "Man, that was quite the storm last night, wasn't it?" I asked. "Just rain," he replied.

Recently my wife told me about a friend who had put snow tires on her all-wheel-drive SUV. While safe driving is a virtue, I questioned how this purchase would have been perceived by my parents. Growing up in Minnesota during the 1970s required driving rear-wheel-drive behemoths through blizzard conditions. I remember Mom and Dad putting snow tires on our 1971 four-door, four-barrel, seemingly four-ton Chrysler Newport and that was that.

Before I am shown the stats of a decrease in winter traffic accidents since the 1970s, I would like to ask why this stuff never worried my folks. Bad weather was discussed but never magnified. Their consciences about such things were free of the cellophane wrap that some apply too tightly around their lives here. There is a fine line between protection and obsession, and the latter is just not good for you.

To live here is to endure. That is why I am going to keep alive the spirit of that Mopar Monster plowing through a light dusting during December when someone asks me about the "bare necessities" for winter. Like a true Minnesotan, I will have little to say.

Chris Birt, Edina

Steve Wheeler's inspiring life and his clear wish to give back to the earth after his death fill my heart with gratitude ("A last wish: Compost my body, for planet's sake," Nov. 14). I hope that Minnesotans will soon have access to a full range of earth-friendly after-death care options.

In August, my mom, Sally, was buried naturally in a restored prairie at Resurrection Cemetery, as was her wish. Old and young helped fill in the grave with soil and decorate the grave site with flowers. Her shrouded body was blessed and buried with tears, laughter and great tenderness. Her burial was a last "thank you" to this earth that nourished during her 91 years of life.

The two-year natural burial moratorium passed last session by the Minnesota Legislature has caused some confusion about natural burial in our state. The moratorium is based on misinformation and fear — and only pertains to new natural burial areas. Natural burial is legal in the state of Minnesota for burial areas already offering this service.

Like Steve and Sally, I want to become soil after I die. My wish is to have a natural burial in prairie land that is held permanently in conservation. Rather than "taking up" land, I want my burial to expand conservation land that will be protected, restored and conserved for future generations. This option doesn't exist in Minnesota — yet! For more information, visit the Land Conservation Natural Burial Project.

Paul Sommers, Minneapolis

Thank you for the splendid picture and article "Thriving parish acts to revive its home" in the Nov. 7 issue of the Star Tribune.

Two things struck me:

Churches are ultimately the people as a sign of God's activity in our midst, but the building acts as a "skin of mission." Congratulations and compliments to this congregation and its pastor for keeping themselves up for God and many others where they are.

The Rev. Richard F. Collman, Northfield