We spent two nights in a cabin on the finger lakes this week. Me, my husband, our teenagers, and my mom, who is on a break between chemo treatments.
I had a few epiphanies in the trip.
First, I spent a lot of time kayaking around the lake and it brought me a sense of peace I have not felt in a long time. People always say “you have to take time out for yourself” and I know that to be true, but I don’t always do it in a way that really allows me to let go of the world and of stress. It was a real reminder to take meaningful time — without my phone and my work and my eldercare and childcare obligations — for myself.
If I ever win the lottery, I’m buying a lake house on the finger lakes with a handful of kayaks.
Second, I realized that I have 0% control of whether our candidate ends up being Joe Biden or someone else. 0% control. It isn’t up to me. It is up to Biden and whomever is advising him.
So there is no point in debating or arguing about it or thinking about it or anything else. I am done with discussions about whether the candidate should be Biden or someone else. Just done. There is literally no point in it and it is so, so anxiety provoking. If Biden gives up the nomination, I’ll support whomever it is. If Biden keeps the nomination, I’ll support him. It doesn’t matter at all to my actions and I have no say in it at all. All it is causing me is stress.
I might humbly suggest that you ask yourself the same question: do you have control over this question? Is it causing you stress to think about and debate it? What benefit is coming from you doing that? Just a few questions. You do you.
Finally, I learned of the news about the supreme court’s awful awful decisions right before a kayak outing with my husband. We talked about it a little about it and I started to feel so down. I felt hopeless for a moment, which is really, really unusual for me. It was an awful feeling and I felt it all through my body — a heaviness and despondency. I looked down at my lap as I rowed. And I thought, how can I spread hope, when I can’t even feel it?
At the very moment I thought that, my husband (who had no idea what was going on in my mind) told me to look up. There was a double rainbow ring surrounding the sun. One strong and clear rainbow around the sun — with all the colors visible. I’d never seen one before in my life. I found out later that it is called a halo rainbow. It was right around the overhead sun — not a setting or low sun around which halo rainbows are most likely to form. It was there high in the sky and clear as day and out of nowhere — it hadn’t been cloudy or cold or rainy.
And then a second rainbow around that one. This one was only clear at points. But the thing about rainbows is that they are there even when you can’t see them. That faint hint of double rainbow was there — a ring as true as the first — even though I could only see parts of it. Sometimes, you don’t need to see all of something to know it is there.
I am not a super religious person but it felt as clear a sign as I have ever gotten from above. Just like God sent Noah a rainbow to remind him that the world was not ending, my rainbow — the first rainbow around the sun I have ever seen — gave me the same message.
And all of a sudden it came back to me — the faith I have in all of us. The faith I have in you. The faith I have in the arc of justice that always, if you look from far enough back, bends towards justice. You can’t always see the whole arc — but you know it is there. I felt the faith I have in the younger generation. I felt full of hope, once again. I felt lighter. And the path before me became clear.
My path? Shut off the noise. Don’t contribute to it. Keep doing what I can for our democracy and our beautiful country and for all of you. Stay on course and follow the clear path.
And that is what I am doing.
For this week, that meant turning off social media and avoiding the news. I don’t have any interest in 500 stories about who is or isn’t backing Biden that day, and who is and isn’t confident in how he acts in meetings. I, personally, have no ability to alter that situation, so stressing myself out does nothing.
But moving forward feels good. And blocking out the noise. And acting feels good.
I’d recommend it for you too.
What can you do?
You can donate:
You can do something else:
Thanks everyone. Be kind. Be thoughtful. We are all on the same team.
Since I have been avoiding the news and social media, I don’t have any political good news for you (like I normally do) but I have some other good news. Maybe you’d like a break from politics as well?
Here it is!
U.S. Marshals Find 200 Missing Children Across the Nation During 6-Week Special Operation
The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), along with federal, state, and local agencies led a six-week national operation that resulted in finding 200 critically missing children, which includes endangered runaways and those abducted by noncustodial persons.
This is the second rendition of this coordinated effort, and so it was called Operation We Will Find You 2 (WWFY2). Running from May 20 to June 24 it focused on geographical areas with high clusters of missing children.
WWFY2 resulted in the recovery and removal of 123 children from dangerous situations. An additional 77 missing children were located and found to be in safe locations, according to law enforcement or child welfare agencies. The vast majority of these were runaway children, one case was a family abduction, and one was a non-family abduction.
These so-called dangerous situations involved human trafficking, captivity by family relations, or situations of sexual exploitation, some involuntarily and others violently.
NASA shares good news about Boeing Starliner as Sunita Williams still in space
Amid the growing concerns about the Boeing Starliner's return to Earth, NASA has shared some good news. The space agency revealed at a conference last week that the spacecraft is in fairly good shape and can stay in orbit beyond its 45-day limit. Launched on June 5, the spacecraft was initially due for a one-week mission. But, the Starliner experienced helium leaks from its service module, forcing it to remain docked at the International Space Station (ISS).
Washed up Hi-Tech Tracker Buoys Brilliantly Redeployed to Protect Turtles from ‘Ghost Nets’
Hi-tech GPS-tracking buoys washing up on Australian beaches were a strange find during a litter clean-up for the non-profit Tangaroa Blue.
On a normal day of operations for the marine debris prevention group, large numbers of these buoys were discovered on Cape York coast near Australia’s northeastern tip manufactured in Spain by a company called Satlink.
Rather than taking them to the dump and putting them in the e-waste dumpster, Tangaroa Blue founder Heidi Tait has secured permission from the Spanish company to put them to use tracking ‘ghost nets’.
These abandoned fishing nets drift unknowingly through ocean waters snaring turtles and other sea life. They’re typically left behind by fishermen after being snagged on a reef or rock outcrop, or when a weather event moves them from where the fishermen left them.
So Tait has gathered together a coalition of Australian mariners, from national park staff, Indigenous rangers, commercial fishermen, and charter boats, and handed out the derelict GPS-tracking buoys with a simple instruction—find a ghost net, hook the buoy to it.
Heidi’s partner, Brett, told Hakai Magazine’s Clare Watson that it really helps the organization clear two hurdles in one jump because trackers are “such a high-tech piece of equipment.” They’re obviously not cheap, and for them to go to a landfill “seemed like such a waste.”
The result was Project ReCon, a partnership between Satlink, Tangaroa Blue, and around 100 commercial fishing vessels representing 22 international companies. Project ReCon has also gained the support of two other major environmental organizations, The Nature Conservancy and The Pacific Community, as local partners. By the end of December, the project has extended its reach to a total of eight countries.
How Does Bird Flu Spread in Cows? Experiment Yields Some ‘Good News.’
Ever since scientists discovered influenza infecting American cows earlier this year, they have been puzzling over how it spreads from one animal to another. An experiment carried out in Kansas and Germany has shed some light on the mystery.
Scientists failed to find evidence that the virus can spread as a respiratory infection. Juergen Richt, a virologist at Kansas State University who helped lead the research, said that the results suggested that the virus is mainly infectious via contaminated milking machines.
In an interview, Dr. Richt said that the results offered hope that the outbreak could be halted before the virus evolved into a form that could spread readily between humans.
“I think this is good news that we can most likely control it easier than people thought,” Dr. Richt said. “Hopefully we can now kick this thing in the behind and knock it out.”
Toddler Saved from Train Tracks After Falling Seconds Before it Thundered Past
This is the heart-stopping moment a toddler was saved by a hero commuter after falling onto a railway line seconds before a high-speed train thundered past.
CCTV footage captured the dramatic near-miss at Newark Northgate railway station in Nottinghamshire last month.
The 36-second clip shows the three-year-old boy walking behind two adults before running to the edge of the platform.
He appears to lower himself over the edge before tumbling backwards onto the track.
A man who was with the child is seen sprinting across the platform while a hero bystander leaps onto the line and lifts the boy to safety.
Just 22 seconds later a train speeds through the station without stopping.
'The good thing is, now there are choices': Federal approval of new Alzheimer’s drug offers a welcome option
A new drug for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, providing an option for some where the choices remain few.
Eli Lilly’s Kisunla is for the treatment of mild cognitive impairment in adults with Alzheimer’s disease. A similar Alzheimer’s dementia drug — Leqembi from Japan’s Eisai, which is also administered by infusion — was approved by the FDA last year.
“The good thing is, now there are choices,” said Marc Haut, director of the Memory Health Clinic at West Virginia University’s Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute. “We wish [the drug] worked a little better, but this is a great first step.”
‘Give Nature Space and it Will Come Back’: Rewilding Returns Endangered Species to UK Coast
A broad coalition of natural trusts, farmers and businessmen, and conservationists are looking to turn the southern English coastline and the lands beyond into a biodiversity hotspot—and success can be seen and felt in the numbers of aquatic species that are returning to the Sussex coast.
The effort follows two major turning points for English nature—one on land and one at sea.
It’s already had a big effect, as the divers and marine biologists at Sussex Bay initiative are seeing every link in the marine food web coming back. They’re seeing beaches rich with signs of life—cuttlefish bones, kelp, and whelk eggs.
“We’ve had the biggest bed of mussels stretching from Lancing to Brighton,” Eric Smith, of Rewilding Britain who is engaged in the initiative, told the Guardian.
Sussex Bay and Weald to Waves are working together so that the coast is a shining mirror to the South Downs National Park, where people can visit, walk for miles inland through biodiverse native habitats and then arrive at the sea which is filled with life. The two groups expect the collaboration, if successful, to be an effective driver of ecotourism, bringing in millions from hikers, ramblers, divers, and others.
Good news: Tiny urban green spaces can cool cities and save lives
A recent World Meteorological Organization report called heat waves the “deadliest meteorological hazard” from 2015 to 2019, affecting people living on all continents, and setting new national heat records in many regions.
Many studies have shown that urban forests can reduce the urban heat island, and many policies focus their attention on large green spaces.
Small green spaces, such as yards, rooftops and small parcels of undeveloped land, can make impressive contributions to lowering urban heat, but they are often overlooked when developing strategies for urban cooling.
Cities rarely have the opportunity to add large green spaces to help counter the effects of heatwaves. Smaller vegetated spaces, however, can still meaningfully decrease local land temperatures.
A recent study in Adelaide, Australia, found that tree canopy cover and, to a lesser extent, grass cover decreased local daytime surface temperatures by up to 6 C during extreme summer heat conditions. Further inland, suburban yards and gardens can decrease local surface temperatures up to 5 C.
New Safer RNA Insecticide Can Target Only the Devastating Potato Beetles and No Other Bugs
A genetically specific pesticide has shown to be lethal to the destructive Colorado potato beetle while leaving all other tested species, even the beetle’s close relatives, unharmed.
Every year, this native of the Rocky Mountains causes $500 million or more in damages across the Northern Hemisphere—all across which it’s now found as an invasive species.
The company GreenLight Biosciences has developed a spray marketed as Calantha in the USA that uses RNA interference technology to target a gene called PSMB5 that codes for part of the cellular machinery that removes damaged proteins. If removed or inhibited, these dead or broken proteins build up and the larvae die within 6 days.
The potato beetle, which despite its name also damages eggplant, tomatoes, and bell peppers, has already developed immunity to 50 pesticide formulas.
Recovery of the Bluefin Tuna Achieves Major Goals A Decade Ahead of Schedule
One of the culinary world’s most prized fish, and one of the sea’s fastest most accomplished predators, has left regulators stunned at the power of its recovery.
A target for the pan-Pacific stock of bluefin tuna has already been reached a decade in advance, with one federal fisheries policy analyst suggesting the world isn’t far away from abundant harvests and perpetual population growth at the same time.
Good news for bald eagles
The 2024 annual spring survey showed a robust estimate of 841 active eagle nests, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.
Last year, biologists estimated 910 nests in Ohio. Although the number of estimated nests is lower in 2024, key indicators suggest that Ohio’s bald eagle population is resilient and continues to thrive. The average nest success rate, which is the number of nests that have eggs or eaglets, this year was 82%, compared to 48% in 2022 and 73% in 2023. The number of eaglets per active nest was 1.6 in 2024, which is higher than 2022 (0.8) and 2023 (1.2).
The Division of Wildlife’s 2024 bald eagle nesting survey consisted of flying five blocks, each roughly 10 square miles, to search for eagle nests in woodlots and along rivers. Two of the blocks, one near Sandusky on Lake Erie and the other over Mosquito Creek Wildlife Area in northeast Ohio, are flown every year. The other three blocks are rotated each year. In 2024, the rotating blocks were located along the Maumee River (Defiance/Henry counties), around Grand Lake St. Marys (Mercer/Auglaize counties), and around Killbuck Marsh Wildlife Area (Wayne County).
The bald eagle was once an endangered species, with only four nesting pairs in Ohio in 1979. Thanks to partnerships between the Division of Wildlife, Ohio zoos, wildlife rehabilitation facilities, concerned landowners, and conservationists its population increased. After much hard work and continued conservation, the bald eagle was removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species in 2007, and from Ohio’s list in 2012.
What can you do to save democracy?
You can donate:
You can do something else:
I am so grateful to be in this with all of you. 💓💚💛🧡✊🏻✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿✊❤️🧡💛💚