Little waves of snow keep moving through but it doesn't last long or leave much behind. The ground is too warm yet and the air temps don't stay below freezing long enough.

I have said before how disenchanted I am with the commercialized "holiday" season. I dislike Christianists who insist on putting "Christ back in Christmas" and protest people saying "Happy Holidays" when in fact Christ left Christmas when it became a retail extravaganza. They seem to think they are the only group that has an end of the year holiday season which is both rude and self-centered. But most of all I resent the focus on gift giving. Among certain members of our family the focus was on the monetary value of the gifts and whether one person got a more expensive gift than another. I think these people have the right idea. Spend time not money. Spend it with family, with friends, with yourself.

My first reaction to this story was that perhaps more stories from mainstream outlets on the effects of climate change might move the political attitudes toward climate change. My second thought was to remember how many stories I have read of military reports which note that climate change will be  (is??) a serious concern for their operations and readiness. Evidently we haven't hit a critical mass of stories the politicos can take seriously. Yet!