My late mother, Grace, challenged me to start and end every day with a prayer of gratitude. Sunday morning's sermon at Westwood Community Church in Chanhassen started out with Pastor Joel Johnson admonishing us to "Give thanks for the cold!" He went on to relate a tale of an acquaintance moving from North Carolina back to Canada because warm weather allergies were making him sick. There is a benefit to ragweed-killing, pest-busting cold. It's nature's perfect do-over. Glass half full, right?
As we approach another Thanksgiving. I'm grateful for many things, including a lack of big, beefy storms. A clipper may leave behind a snowy coating early today (inch or two toward Duluth) and a surge of southern moisture sparks a period of rain on Black Friday. Too wet to shop? I doubt it.
The 40s will feel good later this week, and long-range models suggest an absence of teeth-chattering chill through the first week of December. Dr. Mark Seeley tells us the week of Nov. 7 in the Twin Cities was the coldest such week since 1872. We're long overdue for a mellowing pattern.
