WzW has moved to...

http://wendyzworld.blog.com

 See ya there!  WzW...

It warmed-up enough to snow!

Okay, I'm totally bogged down in work (yeah!), but I had to post this so you could see, yes, it does get warm enough in Minnesota to snow.

This is outside my office window.  Each night just before sunset, I'll get a House Sparrow "lodger."

I hope I'll have a nesting pair this spring.

More soon (-ish, sorta)...

Note to any climate deniers out there who accidentally wandered onto this blog: 

Minnesota used to get a lot of snow in the Winter, blanketing the plants in a protective layer, killing off tons of pests, and in general storing-up water that in the spring helps replenish our deep aquifer. Now it's either too warm, too cold, or too dry to snow. We have frequent and extended droughts, wells going dry, infestations of bugs and weeds that otherwise wouldn't survive if the climate wasn't changing, and a whole host of nasty. I "get" that you don't "get" that global warming can cause unusual cold, as well as unusual heat. I'm sure there are a great many things you don't "get."

13-Greetings Coming!

While I get my act together to craft my annual chatter-blitz...

This year's WzW communal gifts go to...

Regenerative Leadership Institute
http://www.indiegogo.com/online-permaculture

Permaculture is the extension of the art of biomimicry - a sustainable living and design science rooted in observation of nature; permaculture is to sustainability what math is to physics.  Nature has long solved many of the environmental and social problems we're facing today, but we just have not been paying much attention. 

The Regenerative Leadership Institute is seeking to film one of their in-person trainings and develop an inexpensive online permaculture design course, teaching principles of sustainable living and permaculture design at a fraction of the cost of in-person trainings.  Even better, they'll be making a lot of the course content available completely free.


Kiva Micro Loans
http://www.kiva.org/

http://www.kiva.org/lend/517387
A loan of $2,525 helps Oyunchimeg to purchase a large amount of recyclable materials from households and sell them to recycling companies.

http://www.kiva.org/lend/516784
A loan of $25,000 helps Segun to buy and sell Barefoot Power's solar lighting products.

Looking for that perfect gift?...  Kiva Cards ... How many gifts have the potential to change lives?

Finding gifts can be difficult, but Kiva Cards are an easy choice. Kiva Cards introduce your friends and family to Kiva, giving them the opportunity to choose borrowers to support. When their loans are repaid, they can use those funds again and again to make even more loans on Kiva. It's truly the gift that keeps on giving!