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Did you make your holiday shopping list, check it twice then realize your gifts won't show up until 2022? We're here to help.

Driving the news: Supply chain shortages and shipping delays are heavily impacting shopping this year. Many retailers began urging consumers to start ordering as early as mid-October.

Put on your winter gear and grab your hot chocolate: In-person holiday light shows are back! Take a walk through your neighborhood or drive downtown to check out these free displays.

• This extensive map, compiled by local guide-maker Mike Marcotte, tracks a list of spectacular, under-the-radar houses adorned with holiday lights, within 50 miles of the Twin Cities (and beyond). Best viewed on desktop.
• St. Paul Cathedral projects its outdoor light show "The Beginning" onto its 150-foot-tall building to tell the biblical story of Christmas. Dec. 15-19.
• Watch the Union Depot tree lighting Dec. 4 in downtown St. Paul, then take a stroll to Rice Park for some extra holiday decor.
• The University of Minnesota's student-designed light show syncs 250,000 LED lights to a 20-minute mix of music made by fellow students. Dec. 9-11.

Looking for ways to give back this month?

👩‍🍳 Cook, bake or deliver healthy meals to Twin Cities residents via Open Arms of Minnesota, a nonprofit serving people with life-threatening illnesses, their caregivers and dependents.

The Oregon Trail has turned 50 years old, and if you're scratching your head — a computer game in 1971? — you're not alone.

The intrigue: Yes, it was children of the 1990s who learned to ford rivers, replace broken wagon wheels and who tried to stave off dysentery.

• But it was actually a bunch of baby boomers in Minneapolis who first played the game as middle schoolers in the early 1970s.

It's finally getting cold out there! Here's what's happening around town this weekend.

🏃‍♀️🍺 Want to run for beer, but not that far? The .5K Winter Beer Dash this Saturday is only a few blocks in length, and all participants receive two free beers from Able Seedhouse + Brewery and 612Brew, a holiday sweater and Brewery Running Series merch. $45+. Register online.

Pandemic-related barriers didn't keep Minnesota college students from voting in droves in 2020, a report released Thursday shows.

Driving the news: Voting was up across all types of Minnesota higher education institutions, including private universities and two-year colleges, according to a new State of Student Voting report from the student organization LeadMN.

• The projected turnout rate of 70% beats the national average for college students and eligible voters in general, as the chart above shows.

The new Omicron variant has been detected in a vaccinated Minnesota resident with recent travel history to New York City, the Minnesota Department of Health said in a statement Thursday.

Driving the news: The confirmed case involved a patient who developed mild symptoms on Nov. 22 and got a COVID-19 test on Nov. 24, per MDH. He is no longer experiencing symptoms.

If you're looking for a place to sit down and grab some grub at 2am in the Twin Cities, you might be out of luck.

What's happening: From Mickey's to Uptown Diner, the metro is losing its round-the-clock diners as COVID-19 safety concerns and labor shortages continue to challenge the restaurant industry.

Why it matters: Local diners are late-night institutions — a staple of graveyard shift workers, college students and night owls in need of hot coffee and a plate of eggs and bacon.