Hello, dear readers! Scottie Andrew here, filling in for AJ today. Thanks for reading! The robins who nest in my front yard are OBSESSED with my mulberry tree, which dumps its dark berries between the weeds and stains my porch. I can't blame the birds — front-yard fruit is one of life's purest pleasures. (Better yet, it's free!) I've snagged a few berries off the branches to see what the birds have been squawking about. Although I prefer the mangos you could pluck from neighborhood trees in Miami, where I grew up, the mulberries aren't bad — they're tart, like blackberries, softened by the sun. I don't even mind the purple splatters they leave when they fall, or the daily futile attempts to lead my dog around the berries so he won't gobble them up. The berries keep the birds singing. If there's something you'd like to see here, drop us a line. Know someone who could use a little Good Stuff? Send them a copy! We hope you love it as much as we do. |
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Our favorites this week Get going with some of our most popular good news stories of the week
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She's the ultimate sister's keeper
Nobody has your back like your twin — and Georgia and Melissa Laurie are tighter than most. In 2021, while swimming in a river on vacation in Mexico, Melissa noticed a crocodile close by in the water. The two swam for shore, but as Melissa reached the bank, the croc dragged her under the water to certain death — until her twin Georgia dove back in after her, repeatedly fighting off the reptile until it let her sister go. Now, Georgia is being honored by King Charles III with the King's Gallantry Medal, given to Brits who demonstrate immense bravery. The humble Georgia said she owed her own life to her sister, who was determined to stay alive throughout the reptile attack: "I don't think I would be here without her, she really gave me the strength to keep fighting," she said. The attack was terrifying and dangerous, though Melissa has since healed from injuries that included puncture wounds to her stomach and intestines and sepsis during her hospital stay. Read the whole story here. |
There's a new popular baby name in town Liam, Noah and Oliver reigned supreme when it came to the most popular names for baby boys in 2023, but a surprise entry knocked the perennial favorite Benjamin out of the top 10: Mateo. More than 11,000 Mateos were born last year, a record-high number of Mateos in one year, according to the Social Security Administration. Mateo started appearing on the list of top 1,000 baby names in 1995. It took 20 years for it to crack the top 100 and less than 10 years since then to make it into the top 10. The popularity of the name, which means "gift from God" in Spanish, could be linked to the growing Latino population in the US, but a melodic name like Mateo appeals to many expectant parents. "It feels friendlier and more accessible than Matthew," baby naming expert Sophie Kihm told CNN. Apologies to all the Matthews out here, but it's now Mateo's time to shine! Read the whole story here. |
Playing possum
Just TRY not to be delighted watching this mischievous opossum joey who absolutely loves playing dead. Carson the baby opossum was brought to the Tennessee wildlife rescue For Fox Sake (ha!) after losing his mom, and right away, he was excellent at deceiving the staff with his "dead" act. He'd curl into a ball, stop blinking and start drooling whenever rescue director Juniper Russo came near, even scaring her into running for her stethoscope to make sure he was still breathing. (He was.) He's fallen "dead" on a scale when it was time for a weigh-in and inside his blanketed crate. Russo once caught him running on an exercise wheel until Carson noticed she was there and, on cue, froze in place in less-than-convincing rigor mortis. He's since become a star on TikTok for his skilled performances. "He's healthy, and he's dead," Russo deadpanned. |
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... chef Arturo Rivera Martínez of Taquería El Califa de León, a tiny Mexico City food stand that became the first Mexican taco shop to ever earn a coveted Michelin star. While a star isn't the only arbiter of a restaurant's quality, it certainly raises a talented cook's profile and brings more hungry stomachs to its doors. This particular taqueria is only 10 feet wide, the tacos don't cost more than $5 and Martínez grills right next to his patrons while they stand and eat. But good food is good food, and Michelin rightly recognized that simplicity does not discount Martínez's culinary prowess in its one-star recommendation. The Michelin gastronomes praised the shop's Gaonera taco, named for a Mexican bullfighter, that's filled with thin ribbons of beef and seasoned with salt and a lime squeeze. Sometimes, the simplest meal is the tastiest. |
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The American South's unique, rugged beauty isn't always readily apparent to those who don't go looking for it. But photojournalist Kate Medley knows that there's a story in every photograph — even, and perhaps especially, of a local gas station in the Deep South. Her new book, "Thank You Please Come Again," highlights the unique convenience stores that dot backroads and highway exits throughout the South, from Mississippi to Florida. Medley found the places by driving and eating her way through: There's Elberta Grocery in Alabama, where Mike the butcher cuts meat by hand but also cedes the kitchen every Monday to cashier Dhinal, who serves Indian food; and the former Quik Shoppe in North Carolina where chef Marta has been frying chicken for customers for nearly two decades. Medley found strong coffee, hot tamales and even Korean-Greek fusion along her way, with stories about the souls who work at and frequent the small shops. Many of the independent, family-owned stores are in danger of closing as mega franchises expand their reach across the region, but Medley is confident "that these buildings will persist, and that entrepreneurs will persist in finding a way to make them work." |
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| This week on the 5 Good Things podcast, learn about the handbags made with bacteria that could help clean up fashion. Plus, a family outing turns into a rare fossil find of a brand-new species that existed right after dinosaurs went extinct. Listen to the latest episode here. |
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"We say of some things that they can't be forgiven, or that we will never forgive ourselves. But we do — we do it all the time."
— Alice Munro, in her 2012 short story "Dear Life" from the collection of the same name. The Nobel Laureate in Literature died this week at age 92. |
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The term "beach read" is sometimes used derogatorily toward books geared toward women with light, often romantic plots and familiar plot rhythms. But the popular summer-set novels have been around since the 19th century, and they've been loved by readers and maligned by critics for just as long. When the US rapidly industrialized in the mid-to-late 1800s, it transformed transportation and leisure. Suddenly confronted with the means to travel to beach towns for a brief sojourn, the middle classes quickly embraced the idea of summer vacation. The idea of an idyllic getaway inspired authors to set their novels at beach resorts, depicting scenes of nighttime fireworks or shopping trips for an appropriate summer wardrobe. These works, though they were often criticized by male reviewers, eventually influenced the way that readers spent their holidays. One 1887 literary magazine called them the "cakes and ales of literature" and offered that they have a rightful place in readers' libraries just as intellectual, critically acclaimed tomes do. So read on, beach bums! |
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Shameless animal video There's always time for cute animal videos. That time is now. |
It's hot in California. This pool is cold. Who can blame a mama bear and her two cubs who want to beat the heat with a swim ... three to five times a week? [Click here to watch.] |
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