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Ice path on the Warroad River, Minnesota. (Jerry Holt, The Minnesota Star Tribune) |
To make winter less depressing, try skating. "A river runs through Hockeytown USA, and you can skate on it for miles,"
reports Walker Orenstein of
The Minnesota Star Tribune. "It's not a wilderness trail, but rather a wonderfully accessible ice path that attracts skilled hockey players and new skaters alike. It’s easy to forget you’re on a river at all."
For Americans tired of standing on the sidelines and watching turbulent news unfold, there are ways to make your voice heard. "No matter what side of the political spectrum you fall on — contact your federal or local representatives and let them know how you feel, via social media, texts, emails, or phone calls,"
writes Barbara Krasnoff of
The Verge. "There are several online sites and mobile apps that can help, by letting us who to contact, helping us know what the issues are." Some apps offer scripts to make reaching out less intimidating.
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Each month’s full moon marks the changing seasons. (Photo by Kym MacKinnon, Unsplash)
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Snow, sleet, ice and more snow -- winter's chill hangs on into February. The month is typically the Northern Hemisphere's coldest month, and its full moon's name -- the "Snow Moon" reflects its wintry days,
reports Jane Alexander for
Mental Floss. When March hits, the "Worm Moon" will glow above as a sign that spring is coming. Each month has a full moon with a unique name. "Any of the names we use today come from Native American traditions, though some originated in Europe as well. The monikers correspond with the seasons."
Just as rural problems might be best solved by rural communities, challenges across the country might be best met by average citizens. An Oregon county is giving its residents a trial run at solving homelessness. If successful, their "citizen assembly" model could become a new tool for other places,
reports Nick Romeo for
The New Yorker. "These gatherings do what most democracies only pretend to: trust normal people to make decisions on difficult policy questions. Many citizens’ assemblies follow a basic template. . . "
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Adobe Stock photo |
Fire has helped humans reforge the earth for almost a million years, and recent tragic burns serve as a reminder of how fire changes human lives. "In recent years, fires have blasted through cities in Colorado, the
southern Appalachians and the
island of Maui," writes
fire historian Stephen Pyne for
The Conversation. "The narrative is the
unbroken saga of humanity and fire, a companionship that extends through all our existence as a species. . . . We are creating the fire equivalent of an ice age."
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Aerial view of Salton Sea coastline. The sea is both 'fascinating and fetid.' (Adobe Stock photo) |
As a curiosity and a place for communal contemplation, the Salton Sea in southern California was "created by the collision of geology and bad luck,"
writes Dennis Hinkamp for
Writers on the Range. "Its salt-encrusted shores circle about 340 square miles of sea. A silo-full of conspiracy theories features the Salton Sea. . . It will likely remain a hiding place for the weird until some real monster beneath the sea emerges, which could be a rush to start mining lithium made by the sea. . . . It’s my refuge, my winter solace away from anxious headlines, and just strange enough to be hospitable."