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.

More Stories

Gardens of Salonica Is Closing Out a 36-Year Chapter of Minneapolis History

'This restaurant, I made it my life,' owner Anna Christoforides says. 'Now I get to live my life.'

October 29, 2026

Feds Are Spying on Us Even More Than We Thought

Plus Tafoya had a bad take in 2023, Sisyphus lease woes, and a fourth floor ice rink in todays Flyover news roundup.

Is There Momentum to Ban AI, Screens Inside Minnesota Schools?

The largest school districts in New York and California just enacted AI moratoriums and screen restrictions for younger learners. Local parent groups say it's time to do the same.

October 28, 2026

Report: There’s No Better Place to Park in the Whole U.S.A. Than Right Here in the Twin Cities

Plus Demuth and Chauvin, the P-AI-oneer Press, and a very special newspaper column in today's Flyover news roundup.

October 27, 2026