Skip to Content
Opinion

Is It Hot Enough For Ya in This Friday Open Thread?

As we do every Friday, we're turning Racket over to you, the readers.

9:33 AM CDT on August 2, 2024

Photo by Tricia Galvin on Unsplash

I'm gonna ask you to talk about the weather in this week's Open Thread, and I'm not gonna apologize for that.

Small talk gets a bad rap, but I personally love it. Some of my favorite conversations have been been less than two minutes long, just a quick exchange of remarks with a stranger about the weather. It's just a nice reminder that we're able to interact with each other briefly and pleasantly. Not to come off like captain of the civility squad or anything, but we need little moments of friendly social interaction like that.

So yeah, the weather. Which, I do not have to tell you, is HOT! Expect a muggy high of 88 today, followed by about the same for Saturday. Mercifully, things begin cooling down next week.

So... what do you do when it gets this hot? Are you one of those freaks who really enjoy it? What are your favorite heat-avoidance and/or heat-amelioration techniques? Swimming? Ice cream? Places of air-conditioned refuge?

Having moved recently from an apartment with central air to one without, I can say that ceiling fans do a good (if not always adequate) job, though they also make me sleepy. Years ago, when I lived in Elliot Park, I used to pay $5 to chill in the bleachers of the Dome. That's what I got to contribute.

As always, feel free to ignore this prompt and talk about whatever you want. This is your Open Thread, after all.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More Stories

Guess What Percentage of Minneapolis Households Are Carless. Wrong! Guess Again.

Plus two restaurants bid adieu, a big b-ball shakeup, and an influencer finagles a way to the MN State Fair in today's Flyover news roundup.

August 21, 2026

Pungent Eats, Pride, and the Peculiar Pragmatic Promenade: A Visit to the Minnesota Garlic Festival

Garlic ice cream, garlic kettle corn, garlic smoothies... this fest in Hutchinson has everything.

August 21, 2026

Let’s Talk WFH in This Week’s Open Thread

As we do every Friday, we're turning Racket over to you, the readers.

August 21, 2026

Freeloader Friday: 134 Free Things To Do This Weekend

Movies in parks, block parties, posters for teachers, and back-to-school events.

On the Big Screen This Week: Poets Who Are Postal Workers, Writers Who Are Cooks

Pretty much all the movies you can catch in the Twin Cities this week.

August 20, 2026

If the Strib Loves Ryan Winkler So Much Why Doesn’t It Marry Him?

Plus vaccinations decline in MN, a win for the MVA, and all the latest data center news in today's Flyover news roundup.

August 20, 2026