I am shopping for football sweatshirts and dreaming of pumpkin spice lattes (yes, according to Starbucks, it's that season again) while it's 95 degrees outside. I want to be warm, not hot! But warm in an autumnal way, in a cozy blanket way, in a fire-crackling-in-the-hearth kind of way. I remember my husband once asked his father how they stayed cool during Georgia summers before air conditioning, and his response was "We stayed very still." I guess that's our best option — just stay very still, and wait for that first refreshing breeze of fall. And, of course, order any pumpkin spice lattes on ice.
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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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Part of that world
Want to see a real-life mermaid? Merle Liivand, a 32-year-old Estonian native, has made a calling out of breaking records and saving the environment, all while wearing a monofin — a mermaid-like flipper. In April, Liivand set a new world record for the furthest swim while wearing a monofin — swimming 31.3 miles around Biscayne Bay, Miami, in 14 hours and 15 minutes. It’s a record she first set in 2019 when she swam just over 6.21 miles in California. But Liivand doesn’t just break records. When she’s swimming these marathon distances, she also collects any trash she encounters, motivated by a desire to clean up the world’s oceans and to raise awareness of how water pollution is threatening her sport and the planet. During her most recent record-breaking swim, she collected 35 pounds of trash in total.
Read the whole story here.
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It takes a village
Come on, is this not one of the cutest pictures ever? This is Chad Staples, a father of four and the director of Mogo Wildlife Park, a small private zoo in the town of the same name on Australia’s southeastern coast. In his arms is Kaius, a baby gorilla Staples and his team have practically raised since birth. In the first few days of his life last October, Kaius survived an aggressive encounter with his gorilla father, and then a bout of sepsis pneumonia. Doctors didn't think he was going to make it but Staples was determined to give the little guy a chance. The baby gorilla slept on his chest that first night, and then in Staples' bedroom for the first few months. The zookeeper regularly fed him milk and changed his diapers — a difficult task to perform on a primate that’s much stronger than a human baby and able to grip with both his hands and his feet. Now, Kaius is getting older and things are looking promising for him and a new foster mom — a gorilla one, this time.
Read the whole story here.
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Star power
The Mzansi Youth Choir, an ensemble from the small township of Soweto in Johannesburg, South Africa, is touching hearts around the globe. In May, they brought the audience to their feet during the audition portion of NBC's "America's Got Talent," performing a moving version of "It's OK" in honor of former AGT contestant Jane “Nightbirde” Marczewski who died from cancer in 2022. The song was so powerful, that it brought judge Simon Cowell to tears and earned the group the first-ever audience awarded "golden buzzer," automatically sending them through to the next round of the competition. Since then, the choir has been back in South Africa preparing for the next step of the competition, which runs until the end of September. The 45-person group is not new to stardom, however. They've performed alongside musical talents including Shakira, Beyoncé and South African flutist Wouter Kellerman.
Read the whole story here.
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Unlock your potential with Noom’s game-changing program
Changing your relationship with food doesn’t have to be a hassle. Noom helps you develop healthy habits, change your mindset, and achieve your goals in a sustainable way without having to give up the things you love.
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Dominik Černý and Hana Burzalova, who got engaged at the most romantic place on Earth: the race walking events at the World Athletic Championships in Budapest, Hungary! The two Slovakian athletes were there to represent their country in the men's and women's race walking events, which took place simultaneously. Černý finished 19th in the men’s race with a personal-best time of 2:32:56, but he was eyeing a completely different prize. When Burzalova crossed the line later with her season-best time of 3:02:47, Černý got down on one knee and popped the question. Burzalova said yes, of course, but not before stopping the timer on her watch. We love a couple with priorities (and an absolutely perfect engagement pic).
Read the whole story here.
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A baby giraffe with no spots? Someone needs to turn this into a children's book ASAP. This sweet girl doesn't have a name yet but was born in July at Bright’s Zoo, a privately owned facility in Limestone, Tennessee. She is a reticulated giraffe, one of four giraffe species. The word “reticulated” refers to the giraffe’s network of polygonal brown spots, broken up by veins of creamy off-white. So, in this baby's case, she's a spotless spotted giraffe. In fact, the zoo said she might be the “only solid-colored reticulated giraffe living anywhere on the planet.” That's a bestselling story, right there.
Read the whole story here.
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Cruelty is easy, and it breeds only misery. Kindness is harder, and you have to be brave to give it. To be cruel, you can stay closed off from everyone, wear a mask, but to be kind, in essence, to show love, you have to make yourself vulnerable, show your true self to someone and open yourself up to rejection.
- L.H. Cosway, romance writer, in "The Nature of Cruelty." |
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Rec of the week
Brought to you by CNN Underscored
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Shameless animal video
There's always time for cute animal videos. That time is now.
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Here is a two-word blessing to take with you through the day:
Hummingbird bath. (Click here to view)
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