I fully expect there to be tons of "out of office" messages in my inbox when this puppy gets launched. We hope that you are not stuck in some dreary shopping mall but are instead taking part in REI's #OptOutside campaign to squeeze every last bit of joy and fun from the Thanksgiving holiday. Let us be grateful for the Great Outdoors.

As we are just as grateful for all of you faithful readers and supporters.

(And photographers like Rusty Glessner. We've featured his shots as mastheads and Pictures of the Week before and this week's is a real bell-ringer. Pennsylvania State Parks agrees. It's the Facebook cover shot there right now. Definitely check out the original!)

Pam Metzger
Membership Coordinator

News of note

Black Friday. Small Business Saturday. Cyber Monday. (If you're shopping on Amazon, consider using Smile.Amazon.com and choosing the Foundation as your charity of choice. It's a painless way to send a few of those big Amazon bucks to PPFF!) Which makes a nice natural progression to #GivingTuesday.

Extra Give was a resounding success. Thanks to your generosity and a $1,000 surprise Midnight Madness award from LocalFlavor.com and Clipper Magazine, we came very close to our $8,000 goal. In fact, the entire ExtraGive day raised over $8 MILLION for local charities so everyone can be very proud to be a part of such a generous community!

Please help us hit that $8,000 mark with a login on Tuesday. Well, you don't REALLY need to wait when it comes down to it. Your donation any time, any where helps support the programs and initiatives you enjoy all year long.

Beginning on Monday, PPFF can assist with your holiday shopping needs with our pop-up store at 1845 Market Street in Camp Hill. Stop by and meet the staff and do some shopping during regular business hours. Also available will be pottery by Inspired by Nature Pottery, who will make a donation to PPFF for each piece sold. Or consider a living gift from our website in the form of a "in honor of" donation or gift membership. 

While the store won’t be open for small business Saturday, we do encourage you to support the many small business across the commonwealth who create a sense of community in the towns we know and cherish. Here are just a few reasons to consider when shopping in your local community (or one that you are visiting).

If you stop by PPFF, you’ll notice we are surrounded by some pretty cool small businesses!

At work and play in the parks and forests

To no one's surprise the official Calendar of Events is pretty light this weekend. But the parks and forests are open and ready for your enjoyment.

Share with us a picture of how you #optoutside today for a chance to win a sticker. It would look great on your water bottle!

As always, remember to wear your bright orange when out in outdoors during hunting season. Your goal—be SEEN! Even our furry friends should sport their orange gear.

Have a great holiday, all!

Picture of the week

There's just something about this shot from our Friends of Buchanan State Forest that tickles me. It's from their Cabin Trail volunteer day earlier this month with thanks to REI for the grant that purchased their gear and equipment. Look closely at bottom left. I wonder if REI money bought those lovely clippers!

Take five for trivia

Congratulations to the poetry fans who tracked down Emily Dickinson's reference to November as "the Norway of the year" in a letter to a friend. She apparently intended to evoke a certain Nordic gloominess but we have dear friends at our winter home in Florida who are Norwegian and I must say that their photographs of the native land are far from gloomy whatever our biases may suggest! 

Speaking of that "winter home" of ours, Bill and I will be heading south next week. I shall endeavor to have a first of December Fridays in your inbox before we set out, however.

Let us end this month with a nod to the turkey, whose fate yesterday was to bring joy and full bellies to millions of us. Talk to me about turkey vision this week. No, not "visions" as in "visions of drumsticks dancing in your head," but eyesight. Do turkeys see in color?

Submit your answer for entry into our random monthly prize drawing. Each correct response per week goes into the hat and at the end of the month one lucky winner receives a PPFF goodie. The more weeks you enter, the better your chances!

Pennsylvania Parks & Forests Foundation (PPFF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization - contributions to which are tax deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law. The official registration and financial information of PPFF may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling, toll-free within Pennsylvania, to 800.732.0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.

Pennsylvania Parks & Forests Foundation is a proud member of EarthShare and is a Gold GuideStar Participant.