It’s been a historic week on our planet: Kamala Harris became the first woman of colour elected as the US vice president and a coronavirus vaccine trialled on 43,500 people around the world has proven to have a 90% success rate. Here are some more uplifting stories to help give us all a bit of a boost as we plod on through lockdown!
The Lost Art of Letter Writing
There’s nothing quite like receiving actual physical mail through the post – by this we mean cards, postcards and letters rather than bills, of course! A performance artist and professor based in Brooklyn in New York has been helping to revive this tradition by setting up a letter writing station on the city pavement near to mailboxes. He sits there with a typewriter and helps passers-by write notes to their loved ones.
No Catfish
In an online dating story with a twist, a man from the UK is engaged to a woman from Chicago after the pair began a relationship through Facebook. Anna and Adam connected after Adam posted a photo of himself holding his big and beautiful cat to a group dedicated to chubby felines. After a year of dating – much of it long distance – Adam proposed and Anna is hoping to move to the UK permanently soon. A warm and fuzzy story in more ways than one.
Precious Memories
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A wedding album that was thought to be lost forever has been reunited with its owners. Colin and Helena Hutt moved house often because of Colin’s job and accidentally left the album in a house in Plymouth. When the current owner found it in the loft, she posted about it on a local Facebook group and managed to contact the couple, who after 20 years were overjoyed to see photos of their special day once again.
Keepy Uppies
An amazing achievement ?
Congratulations on completing your keepie-uppie challenge, @imogen_ph. We’re proud to have you in our squad of #Lionhearts!
— England (@England) November 4, 2020
An 11-year-old girl from Cambridgeshire has completed a phenomenal fundraising feat – she pledged to do 7.1 million ‘keepy-uppies’, one for every NHS worker. The Arsenal fan had a little help from schools, sports club and individuals including Manchester United player Marcus Rashford and England player Lucy Bronze who sent in videos of themselves to Imogen Papworth-Heidel’s parents. Imogen performed the last 3,000 keepy-uppies at Cambridge United’s Abbey Stadium after around six and a half months of work, and she has raised nearly £12,000 so far for various charities.
Ocean Colour Scene
Conservationists have discovered that if they play the sounds usually heard on a healthy, thriving reef in degraded reefs, young fish are more likely to settle down and make the latter their home. Dr. Stephen Simpson, a researcher at the University of Exeter, describes the sound of busy coral reefs as: “remarkably noisy places – the crackle of snapping shrimp and the whoops and grunts of fish combine to form a dazzling biological soundscape.” You never know, it could be the next big thing.
Karma Chameleons
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A species of chameleon, not seen for a century (no joke intended), has been discovered hanging out in a hotel garden in Madagascar. Three male and 15 female Voeltzkow’s chameleons were found, which ticks another animal off the 25 Most Wanted List of missing species created by Global Wildlife Conservation. The chameleon is usually green with a few white and black features but if they become stressed or angry they can turn black and white and striped with three red dots, or indigo and patterned with white, indigo and black stripes!
And finally…
A professional pianist who was forced to stop playing due to injuries and diseases has been able to play again due to the invention of some ‘bionic gloves’. You can witness his emotional reunion with his instrument below… tissues at the ready.
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