June 25, 2022

"Get a bird feeder," they said. "It'll be fun," they said. When I first put up our new feeder, I was excited to make some lovely winged friends. What they don't tell you is, those lovely winged friends are messy. And extremely ungrateful. They fling as many seeds as they eat, and peck on the feeder as if to say, "That's all you got?!" Honestly, I can pretend to be annoyed all I want, but it's really fun to see all the different birdie personalities come out. Are we friends, exactly? Not yet, but there's time -- and unlimited bags of bird seed.

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Our favorites this week

Get going with some of our most popular good news stories of the week

Twin ambition
How do you get to the world's most remote places? Twin brothers and adventurers Hugo and Ross Turner have spent their lives finding out. They've been to four poles of inaccessibility -- a set of points around the globe that are the hardest to get to in relation to where they are. For instance, a pole of inaccessibility on a continent would represent the most remote place on the continent, farthest away in any direction from its borders. The Turner twins are now gearing up to travel to the Atlantic Pole of Inaccessibility, smack dab in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. They're also going to make the expedition while being 100% emission free, traveling on a boat and using equipment powered by hydrogen technology.

Let the Trumpet sound!
The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show was this week, and a Bloodhound sniffed out Best in Show! He goes by Trumpet, though his full name is "GCHB CH Flessner's Toot My Own Horn." (Yes, show dogs are named like racehorses, apparently.) Trumpet was up against some formidable competition, like a French bulldog named Winston (full name: GCHP CH Fox Canyon's I Won the War at Goldshield CGCA CGCU TKN) who nabbed Reserve Best in Show.

Play with your food
Would you eat a ketchup popsicle? Of course, every polite citizen's initial response should be a hard "no," but think about it: It's only a few shades away from gazpacho, right? Or some sort of fancy tomato aspic? French's Ketchup, a Canadian ketchup brand, launched a limited run of frozen ketchup treats, or "Frenchsicles," to celebrate summer. Even cooler? For every popsicle given away, French's donated to Food Banks Canada to help food insecurity. Now that you've had time to warm up to the idea, ketchup popsicles don't sound so bad, do they? (Perhaps Velveeta's cheese-scented nail polish is more your style.)

Heroes among us

You probably know mega-chef José Andrés from his work around the globe, cooking food for those in crisis. Tonight, he will be one of the celebrities honored during the CNN special, CNN Heroes Salutes. The special will also feature Glenn Close and her nonprofit Bring Change To Mind, which aims to break the stigma surrounding mental health. We'll also hear from Mila Kunis, who has raised millions to help her home country of Ukraine.

Catch CNN Heroes Salutes tonight, Saturday, at 10 p.m. ET on CNN and CNN International!

Hear, hear!

We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.

- Eleanor Roosevelt

Who knew?

Credit: Claudio Contreras Koob / Nature Picture Library

A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance! What an apt name. Photographer Claudio Contreras Koob has had a lifelong fascination with the birds, and goes to great lengths to capture stunning images of them in Mexico. He also knows tons of important flamingo info, like the fact that they need to eat 10% of their body weight a day. (And yes, that their carotenoid-rich diet is, indeed, responsible for all that pink.)

Rec of the week

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