Hello, friends. I write to you from within a snowstorm of the kind we get a few times in a typical Ottawa winter: we’re expecting between 15 and 25 centimetres, and at the moment, the world outside is very white. So I’m hunkered down, which I would be anyway, because I’m still finishing the draft of my next novel, and then I have edits to get to on another novel. I’ve been in hunkered down mode for weeks, and neglecting things like exercise and socializing because I keep thinking “I just have to go hard for a few more days and this will be done” but, as anyone who has ever written a novel knows, the ending tends to turn into a particular kind of Zeno’s paradox in which a finite distance to travel can be divided into an infinite number of tasks. Anyway, I just have to go hard for a few more days and this will be done.

I am thinking constantly of Minnesota, so there’s nothing better I can think to do with today’s newsletter than share a few of the resources I have come across, if you’re in any position to help. I grew up in Manitoba, so Minnesota is my neck of the woods, and I have several friends and colleagues there. I’ve been inspired by the bravery of ordinary people keeping their kids and neighbours safe from roving gangs of unidentified masked goons.

There’s a list of organizations to support on the Stand With Minnesota website. One effort that I have been watching with admiration is the supply of dash cams to observers, which you can support through this wish list if you don’t mind buying through Amazon. Another great wish list to support is this one sending ice cleats and other cold weather gear to neighbourhoods. You can also support a collective of people 3d-printing whistles, information zines and other resources at this fundraising site, and if your neighbourhood/store/community organization anywhere in the US could use some whistles, email them at whistlerequests@proton.me.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll be back in a couple of weeks, hopefully to crow about finishing my novel draft!