Glad To Hear It...3 Stories To Make Your Day

It was an ordinary day.  Turned the page and discovered three interesting stories that I thought you might enjoy.  So..... pick one, or perhaps two, or go ahead and read all three...they certainly aren't that long....

Story #1 - Under Milkweed:  For years, Robyn Elman has raised endangered monarch butterflies in her New York City backyard by collecting their eggs from milkweed plants -- the only food monarchs eat -- alongside highways.  But too often, instead of healthy plants, she found mowed stubs and obliterated eggs.  She and a fellow enthusiast contacted Frank Coniglio, the city's director of arterial highway maintenance, urging him to cut the butterflies a break.  Over and over again.  "At first, I was skeptical," he told the New York Times.  But then he got it:  "What happens to the butterflies is going to happen to us, right?"  So Coniglio went to work on not mowing.  By the end of last summer, about 20 milkweed patches were protected throughout the city.  "We're dong something positive," says Coniglio proudly.

Story #2 - To Grandma's House We Go -  In 2021, Sam Crowe was eating breakfast with high school friends in a St. Louis, Missouri, diner when he proclaimed, "My grandma cooks better than this."  So starting the next week, and every Wednesday morning during the school year, Peggy Winckowski happily proved her grandson correct by cooking a feast for him and the other kids.  In 2022, Sam was killed in a hit-and-run.  Grandma Peggy was devastated.  Wanting to be there for her, Crowe's friends showed up for breakfast as usual the following Wednesday.  And they've been showing up every Wednesday after that.    "Wednesday is my favorite day of the week,"  Winckowski told the Washington Post.  "I will feed them as long as they will come."

Story #3 - I Spy with My Little Eye ...  Alaska's Katmai National Park is dotted with cameras that let wildlife lovers view brown bears online.  But last September, a human showed up on the camera instead.  Wet from the rain and looking weary, the hiker faced the camera and mouthed, "Help me."  The camera, situated 2 miles from the nearest trail, is in rugged, inhospitable terrain.  It's easy to get lost there.  Luckily, a viewer posted below the feed, "There is someone distresssed on the camera."  That message reached a park ranger, who dispatched a search-and-rescue team.  Within hours, the hiker was found.  A park ranger told NPR, "Our webcam viewers don't miss much."

Not much for today...but, hope you enjoyed the stories.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.