Oceanographers enjoyed a burst of color and life flowing forth in the annual spawning of coral from the Great Barrier Reef last week.
Courtesy of Reef Teach
Taking place after the November full moon, researchers witnessed a banner year that inspired hope for the revitalization of the world’s coral reefs.
At the iconic reef off the coast of Cairns, Queensland, different corals synchronized the release of their sperm and eggs, which look almost like the shaking of a giant snow globe.
The coral offspring floated in waves of vivid pink, purple, or blue, depending on the species—and this year it was uniquely impressive.
“Unbelievably beautiful spawning from last night! The party sure has started and the corals are going off,” Reef Teach exclaimed on Twitter, posting a video (see below).
Billions of new coral babies born are good news for the reef, after a difficult few years.
“It is gratifying to see the reef give birth. It’s a strong demonstration that its ecological functions are intact,” Reef Teach marine scientist Gareth Phillips told EcoWatch.
Last week the US agency in charge of telecommunications adopted rules to expand access to the suicide prevention hotline by establishing the ability to text, in addition to calling.
Mikel Parera
Last year, the FCC established 988 as the new, nationwide, easy-to-remember 3-digit phone number for Americans to connect with suicide prevention and mental health crisis counselors.
As soon as next summer, people will be able to call—or—text 988 for instant access to the emergency service.
Using equipment that is normally found at disaster sites after building collapses or earthquakes, firefighters worked for hours to free a trapped Jack Russell pet.
Digging at Sutton Park – SWNS
The 11-year-old Freddy was chasing a rabbit on Monday when he got trapped down a narrow hole in Blackroot Pool, West Midlands.
His owner Richard Hill said he could hear Freddy’s whimpers underground but was unable to reach him.
The 55-year-old reluctantly gave up searching for him when it got dark.
“I really thought I had seen Freddy for the very last time,” said Hill.
He returned on Tuesday morning and called 999 after he could hear Freddy’s cries for help.
He had been trapped for 24 hours by that time.
The West Midland Fire and Rescue Service found them after Hill used an app to help firefighters find his exact location: What3Word has divided the world into 3m squares and given each square a unique combination of three words—and if you have the app, it is as accurate as GPS coordinates.
Crews used camera and listening gear on their mission to find the distressed pup, and eventually dug a 6-ft by 9-ft crater.
Quote of the Day: “We only regret the chances we didn’t take, the relationships we were afraid to have, and the decisions we waited too long to make.” – Lewis Carroll
Photo: by Sathish J. via CC license
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180 Toronto buildings have ditched energy intensive air-conditioning in favor of cooling by pumping frigid waters from the depths of Lake Ontario through pipes in the walls and floors.
These include City Hall, Toronto General Hospital, hotels, data centers, and the Scotiabank Arena, home to the Raptors basketball franchise—altogether the 54 million square feet of real estate saves 90,000 megawatt hours of electricity annually, which is enough to power 25,000 homes.
The Deep Lake Water Cooling (DLWC) system of Toronto is the largest of its kind on Earth.
It relies on three pipes lying 3.5 miles south of the city, 280 feet below the lake, which suck up the 39°F (4°C) water before pumping it to a central station that then sends it through to the buildings. Warm water exiting the building is pumped back into the lake to make up the difference, taking the heat it absorbs with it.
At first the CAD170 million ($133 million) DLWC system, built and managed by Enwave, had a hard time finding clients in the city, but after initial evidence of energy savings (Scotiabank uses 3 million kilowatt hours less energy per year) they have been growing in number ever since.
A new program to increase capacity in town by an additional 60% testifies to its popularity as a low-carbon cooling system.
Enwave
“It’s a big investment,” Carlyle Coutinho, president of Enwave, told the Post of the upcoming CAD100 million ($78 million) project. “It would be challenging to keep growing commercially without increasing the baseload.”
Another big expansionary project in Toronto is called The Well. Enwave will create a thermal storage system using a two million gallon tank of cold water from the lake which can store energy at night during off-peak times, easing strain on the electricity grid and reducing costs.
This, the company says, will open the door to another 17 million square feet of real estate.
DLWC isn’t the only method of cooling buildings via water; the other involves evaporating water using large tanks as a means of expelling heat. However this leads to mass water usage, and DLWC can keep 220 million gallons of water in the lake, in the pipes, or in the ground, compared to evaporative cooling.
DLWC isn’t something every city or building has access to, but some buildings, like the million square foot HSBC Headquarters in Hong Kong, is cooled via seawater instead.
While the turkey was likely the main attraction on the Thanksgiving dinner table, three in four Americans agree that a holiday dinner sans turkey, consisting of only side dishes, would be just as satisfying.
2,005 people were asked about their favorite Turkey Day sides, and mashed potatoes were crowned the favorite by nearly half (46%)—just narrowly beating stuffing (43%).
While stuffing is usually considered the most common Thanksgiving side dish, it surprisingly isn’t America’s favorite side this year, according to the new poll.
Meanwhile, sweet potatoes (39%) and cranberry sauce (37%) were among the popular choices, as well.
The survey, which was carried out by OnePoll on the behalf of The Fresh Market, also found that many Americans would be keeping their eyes peeled for sweet potatoes—with three in 10 considering them to be underrated.
And when it comes to after-dinner desserts, apple pie (43%) surprisingly beat out pumpkin pie (42%) for the top spot, with chocolate (34%) securing third place.
43% of respondents said their family had gone 4 or more years without adding any variety to their family’s Thanksgiving menu.
They expected that five side dishes would be available on the table and 74% planned on eating at least four of them.
Respondents listed stuffing (22%) and mac and cheese (20%) as the hardest dishes to make “just right.”
And, 86% said their family had its own recipes for those dishes, with homemade stuffing (29%), mashed potatoes (26%) displaying individual flare.
“Whether it’s continuing family traditions or starting new ones with unique sides like mascarpone whipped potatoes with rosemary, oyster stuffing or cranberry relish with walnuts, bringing flavorful sides to the table makes the meal even more delicious,” said Kevin Miller, Chief Marketing Officer at The Fresh Market.
Additionally, 86% said they planned on preparing extra helpings for those highly coveted dishes like mashed potatoes (31%), stuffing (30%) and mac and cheese (27%), as those will likely be the first dishes to be polished off—because who doesn’t love an extra helping of mashed potatoes?
AMERICA’S TOP THANKSGIVING SIDES
Mashed potatoes (46%)
Stuffing (43%)
Sweet potatoes (39%)
Cranberry sauce (37%)
Mac and cheese (36%)
Green bean casserole (35%)
Candied yams (33%)
Cornbread (32%)
Baked potato (31%)
Corn on the cob (30%)
Brussels sprouts (29%)
Butternut squash (29%)
Collard greens (29%)
Peas (28%)
As nations get more and more serious about climate change, certain sectors are finding it a more difficult subject than others. Commercial and military aviation for example, or racing series like F1 and NASCAR, don’t currently enjoy many zero-emissions developments.
Now, however, a Formula One legend has partnered with the British Royal Air Force to create a zero-emissions fuel alternative for these activities, and they were just rewarded with a Guinness World Record for the first-ever flight test using synthetic petroleum.
It was the morning of November 2nd when an Icarus C42 ultra-light plane launched from Cotswold Airport to complete a short flight using Zero Petroleum’s synthetic UL91 fuel.
UL91 is just hydrogen extracted from water and carbon extracted from atmospheric CO2, done by machines powered by renewable electricity. These are then synthesized to create a zero-emissions fuel which Zero Petroleum say can be used for “crucial for sectors in which electrification is not currently an option, including aviation, agriculture and a wide range of high-performance vehicles.”
It’s hard to imagine, with an invention as potentially critical as zero-emissions aviation fuel, how quickly this all went through: from first-planning to testing needed just five months from Zero Petroleum, run by F1 royalty Paddy Lowe.
Lowe, who contributed to 12 world championships with his time at the McLaren, Williams, and Mercedes racing teams, added that the fuel “ran successfully in the aircraft as a whole-blend without any modification whatsoever to the aircraft or the engine.”
“The engine manufacturer Rotax’s measurements and the test pilot’s observations showed no difference in power or general performance compared to standard fossil fuel,” he said.
The RAF see it as a chief innovation towards the force becoming carbon-neutral by 2040.
“Climate change is a transnational challenge which threatens global resilience and our shared security and prosperity,” said Air Chief Marshall Sir Mike Wigston. “I am determined to tackle this head on… and this exciting project to make aviation fuel from air and water shows how it might be done.”
Other methods of greening aviation have seen devices that catalyze atmospheric CO2 into jet fuel right onboard the aircraft, while carinata, a mustard-like oil seed crop, could be used to create a more sustainable jet fuel alternative capable of reducing emissions by 68%, and is being grown in the American Southwest in a trial.
This blog was submitted to GNN by one of our readers for publishing. If you have an interesting story of kindness or positivity, be sure and send it to us for review.
Instagram – iwanttomowyourlawn
A school bus load of 21 New Jersey teens in 7th and 8th grade traveled to volunteer for community service, serving seniors and inspiring neighbors with their good deeds.
Equipped with rakes and recycled paper bags, they cleaned up property around elderly homes in Wayne providing leaf removal free of charge.
Approved by the Ramsey NJ Board of Education, the kids volunteers for the nonprofit organization I Want To Mow Your Lawn Inc., which was started over the pandemic last summer.
Brian Schwartz founded I Want To Mow Your Lawn after getting laid off from his advertising job.
“We’re now in 35 states with over 150 volunteers,” he told GNN this week.
With the success of this week’s ‘field trip,’ Schwartz is looking to partner with schools in other towns to get more groups like this involved in his ‘grassroots’ campaign.
Iwanttomowyourlawn.com
These same kids will be returning in the coming weeks to clean more yards, offering leaf removal and a new ‘branch’ of kindness.
Quote of the Day: “There are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our encouragement, who will need our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give.” – Leo Buscaglia
Photo: by Tyler Nix
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Drinking coffee or tea may be associated with a lower risk of stroke and dementia, according to a study of healthy individuals aged 50-74. Drinking coffee was also associated with a lower risk of post-stroke dementia.
Strokes are life-threatening events which cause 10 percent of deaths globally. Dementia is a general term for symptoms related to decline in brain function and is a global health concern with a high economic and social burden. Post-stroke dementia is a condition where symptoms of dementia occur after a stroke.
Yuan Zhang and colleagues from Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China studied 365,682 participants from the UK Biobank, who were recruited between 2006 and 2010 and followed them until 2020.
At the outset participants self-reported their coffee and tea intake. Over the study period, 5,079 participants developed dementia and 10,053 experienced at least one stroke.
People who drank 2-3 cups of coffee or 3-5 cups of tea per day, or a combination of 4-6 cups of coffee and tea had the lowest incidence of stroke or dementia.
Individuals who drank 2-3 cups of coffee and 2-3 cups of tea daily had a 32% lower risk of stroke and a 28% lower risk of dementia compared with those who drank neither coffee nor tea.
Intake of coffee alone or in combination with tea was also associated with lower risk of post-stroke dementia.
The UK Biobank reflects a relatively healthy sample relative to the general population which could restrict the ability to generalize these associations.
Also, relatively few people developed dementia or stroke which can make it difficult to extrapolate rates accurately to larger populations.
Finally, while it’s possible that coffee and tea consumption might be protective against stroke, dementia and post-stroke dementia, this causality cannot be inferred from the associations.
The authors add of their findings, published in PLOS Medicine, that they “suggested that moderate consumption of coffee and tea separately or in combination were associated with lower risk of stroke and dementia.”
This heart-warming video shows a young woman who spent four days outside gaining the trust of an abandoned rabbit.
25-year-old Alicia Castro spent all day, every day, trying to catch the pet rabbit that had been dumped outside her apartment.
She endured freezing temperatures and talked to the rabbit while leaving food, before finally coaxing him into a crate.
Alicia, from Montana, said: “Tons of people knew the rabbit was there! A few said they tried to catch it but nobody really cared enough to do anything.
“With the cold weather incoming, I knew that time was important and I’d feel so guilty if I didn’t do anything.
“Once I looked in his eyes I knew that I had to save him, no matter what it took.
“It was very stressful. I was sick and it was barely above freezing.
“Everyday I would sit outside in the cold with him, gaining his trust, feeding him, and trying to get him to climb into my crate.
“Filming [and sharing] the process felt pretty normal for me, but it was great to have so much helpful advice. At first I just had a towel to grab him with but by day four, I had proper food, a crate, and knowledge that made rescuing him possible.
SWNS
“Day three was definitely the hardest. I was so frustrated and started to worry that I would never catch him, not only letting down this poor, helpless rabbit, but also the millions of people who were watching along too.”
Alicia’s patience paid off and the rabbit, now named Bunny, is living the life of cozy luxury.
“I called every Humane Society in the area,” Alicia says, “and they were full, so I planned to foster him until we could find him a good home.” But the more time she spent with the rabbit, the more she fell in love with him.
“My partner and I have a cat, Kiki, who we adopted four years ago, so we knew we could only keep him if they could coexist.
“We spend every day acquainting them and getting them used to each other. I’m so happy with the progress we’ve made.”
SWNS
Her advice for others who might find an abandoned pet animal in need of help?
“Even if it’s hard, even if it takes time, don’t give up. There are so many animals that need help and don’t have anybody to stand up for them, so be that person.”
Their ancient ancestors brought many modern sailing techniques to the North Sea, and now the Norwegians have successfully launched the world’s first electric autonomous container ship.
Built by Yara to transport their mineral fertilizer stocks between the towns of Porsgrunn and Brevik, a trip which normally requires 40,000 trips by diesel truck per year, the Yara Birkeland will save around 1,000 tons of CO2 annually.
On November 19th, Yara Birkeland departed for a crewed maiden voyage—which included Norway’s prime minister—on a short 43-mile trip across the fjord from Horton to Oslo.
“We have been looking forward to this day for a long time,” stated Svein Tore Holsether, CEO of Yara. “This is an excellent example of green transition in practice, and we hope this ship will be the start of a new type of emission-free container ships. There are a lot of places in the world with congested roads that will benefit from a high-tech solution like this.”
Onboard the 262-foot (80 meter) vessel is a 6.8 megawatt-hours battery pack that can generate 17 mph (28 kph). It can carry 3,200 tons of fertilizer, and should begin commercial operations next year while it carries out lengthy certification for its autonomous navigation technology.
“Norway is a big ocean and maritime nation… the project demonstrates how we have developed a world-leading innovation that contributes to the green transition and provides great export opportunities for Norwegian technology and industry,” stated Geir Håøy, CEO of the Kongsberg Group, the firm responsible for delivering all the technologies, including the navigation ones, onto the Yara Birkeland.
In parallel with the development of the Yara Birkeland, Yara, the world’s largest producer of fertilizer, has launched an ambitious program to develop a zero-emissions fuel source by using their own massive stocks of ammonia, a key component in the fertilizer making process, and one which could be responsible for as much as 1.2% of global annual greenhouse gas emissions.
Kongsberg
“As the world’s largest producer of ammonia, Yara has launched an offensive plan of international scale, both to remove current emissions and to establish the production of new, clean ammonia,” says Magnus Krogh Ankarstrand, CEO of Yara Clean Ammonia.
(WATCH the ship’s maiden voyage below…)
SAIL This Positive Story Over to Your Social Feeds…
A New Jersey man won hearts across social media after he was photographed using a cardboard sign to express his gratitude to local hospital workers.
The man, who was not identified, was pictured holding up a handwritten sign to the glass windows of the emergency department at Morristown Medical Center as he held his other hand to his heart. The sign read: “Thank you all in emergency for saving my wife’s life; I love you all.”
Karen Zatorski, Senior Public Relations Manager at Morristown Medical Center, later told The Daily Record: “We don’t know who the man is, we don’t know who his wife is. The nurses happened to be there and took his picture. What’s beautiful is that’s all we know.”
A woman named Shay Vander Vliet shared the photo on Facebook after her sister-in-law Paige, who works as a nurse at the hospital, caught sight of the man at work.
“She sent me this picture the other day and I feel like it needs to be seen as much as possible!” wrote Shay. “I don’t know how to make a photo go viral but I think this one is worth sharing—so please, share away!
“And thank you, Paige, and ALL of the nurses and doctors, for your hard work and dedication, especially during this scary time.”
Just as Shay hoped for, social media users have since shared the photo more than 61,000 times. Not only that, the photo raised awareness for a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for New Jersey hospitals in need of protective medical gear. Within a matter of days, the campaign managed to raise more than $12,000.
This is just one of many positive stories and updates that are coming out of our COVID-19 news coverage. For more uplifting stories, click here.
Multiply The Good By Sharing This Sweet Story With Your Friends On Social Media…
Quote of the Day: “When we focus on our gratitude, the tide of disappointment goes out and the tide of love rushes in.” – Kristin Armstrong (Happy Thanksgiving!)
Photo: by Ricardo Gomez Angel
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In 1997, only Switzerland allowed their residents to decide if they wanted to end their life, but compassion for end-of-life sensibilities has seen that number rise dramatically across the West.
Since 2015, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada, New Zealand, Spain, the Netherlands, Colombia, Germany, Austria, Portugal, five Australian states, ten American states, and D.C. have legalized assisted dying. Countries that are largely Catholic such as Ireland, Chile, Italy, and Uruguay are currently crafting legislation to follow suit.
As the Economist reports, more and more people who have seen their relatives suffer through chronic or incurable illnesses—and who may be worried they might face the same fate—are on the crest of a wave of activism to return the right to die to the individual, their doctors, and families, rather than the state.
In 2015, the state of Oregon passed the Death with Dignity Act, which was copied internationally in places like New Zealand and all but one of the states of Australia.
In the UK, three-quarters of people support the right to die, though only 35% of parliament agrees, and so an Oregon-like bill is unlikely to pass at the moment.
In Peru, the constitutional court recently ruled that a doctor’s decision not to help a woman with degenerative polio end her life was a violation of human rights, and a potential challenge to a ban is being made in the courts.
Movements like the one for green funerals or for medically-assisted suicide are part of a changing attitude to death. Naomi Richards, an anthropologist tells the Economist that now death should be, for some people, “an event to be scheduled, controlled.”
One of the founding principles of classical liberalism was the right to self-ownership: one owns the rights and fates of one’s person. It’s the ultimate vote of confidence in not only the sovereignty of the individual, but in the principles which many of our Western countries were found upon.
SHARE Your Opinion on This Thought-Provoking Topic on Social Media…
Bethany Voak, Expanded Polystyrene [Photo_ courtesy PriestmanGoode_Royal College of Art]Bethany Voak
Yuke Liu, Tracing/PriestmanGoode; Royal College of Art
London design students were given a challenge: take plastic that will most likely end up in the landfill, and turn it into a new raw material using as little energy as possible.
Part of a competition from the London Royal College of Art, the students excelled, turning plastic into train car-seat covers, sound insulation, art pieces, lamps, and more.
A partnership between the London-based industrial design firm PriestmanGoode and the College’s MA in textiles program, the competition was called Precious Waste, highlighting the remaining usefulness in so many of the materials we throw away.
“The students were free to consider how their new materials, surface finishes, or textures could be used in different environments, whether in retail spaces, restaurants, hotels, or transport environments,” the presentation website reads.
“The students tackled the brief in the most difficult times with great enthusiasm and passion, addressing one of the biggest challenges of our time and creating beautifully handcrafted solutions.”
First place went to Bethany Voak, a young woman who not only repurposed polystyrene foam, but re-molded it, allowing for a change in color, texture, and consistency that could be used for many different purposes, whether as the most avant garde art piece, or as a drywall replacement.
Even though it’s 100% recyclable, polystyrene, the hard white plastic used to pack televisions and the like, is rarely recycled in Voak’s home country of the UK; a pity as polystyrene also endures in the environment longer than any other common plastic.
Bethany Voak, Expanded Polystyrene/riestmanGoode; Royal College of Art
During her work, she discovered an organic molecule that turns the rigid yet spongy foam into a moldable material that can take dyes, and become hard—opening up a huge array of potential uses.
Second place went to Henrietta Dent, who unwound plastic produce nets like the kinds which hold a pound of onions, with nothing more than her hands and a bit of heat. The resulting material is stronger by virtue of its woven nature, and can be used to create cushion covers for the seats on, for example, the London underground.
Henrietta Dent, Recrafting Value/PriestmanGoode; Royal College of Art
Other entries included Christina Pei Fen, who cut up individual fruit nets with scissors before using a hot iron to quickly press them into a single sheet, which can have color and ephemeral consistency.
Lianyi Chen, another runner up, 3D-printed and laser cut a polystyrene material along design specifications created by visualizing sound waves. The resulting stringy material, she says, can be used as sound insulation, stuffing for toys, or as a 3D-printing filament.
Yuke Liu, Tracing [Photo- courtesy PriestmanGoode:Royal College of Art]Another entry, aiming to tackle the plastic incense packaging at Buddhist temples, created an app that tracks the donation of this plastic packaging every time one goes for prayer.
At the end the trash is turned into a lamp in the appearance of a lotus flower.
The legend of Johnny Appleseed: the man who walked about Ontario and the northern United States spreading apple pips, takes root in a new pair of kicks that biodegrade and grow an apple tree when they are discarded.
Tackling plastic pollution is the principle purpose behind the new shoe, but they also help the environment a little bit by aiding in reforestation.
33-year-old Toronto resident Luc Houle is working to bring “Johnny,” the brand name of the shoe, to market through Kickstarter, which is currently just $1,000 shy of his $55,000 target.
Johnnys are simple canvas everyday shoes made without plastic, utilizing Fair Trade biodegradable materials instead.
Cushiony, lightweight, and water-resistant, Johnnys won’t biodegrade off of your feet, but after the years wear then down and the decision to move on to new kicks arrives, they can be buried, as hidden within the sole is an apple seed encased in fertilizer.
The materials which the shoe is made from contain naturally-occurring compounds which attract microorganisms to feed on and break down the shoe over three years.
Even if you don’t get around to burying them, they will still biodegrade if thrown in a landfill.
Johnny Footwear
When the campaign is successful ($109 will get you a pair and a tree planted in your name), Houle hopes to have them available to a wide range of people by August of next year.
“The nice thing about this project is that because it’s a biodegradable sneaker that grows into a tree, we can kind of help number one, offset people’s carbon footprint, but we’re also helping eliminate plastics,” Houle told Blog Toronto. “And the more people we can reach with that the more of an impact we can have.”
(WATCH the City News video for this story below.)
WALK This Apparel Straight Over to Your Besties; Share This Story…
Cranes in Cambodia are getting a helping hand from an unlikely source, as rice farmers sign up to take a pay cut in the name of conservation.
By switching to grow native rice crops, and leaving a small piece of their harvest behind for rare eastern sarus cranes, the farmers are providing a safe haven for the world’s tallest flying bird.
Mostly white, but with a brilliantly colored head—as red as a male mallard’s is green—the eastern sarus crane can reach just under 6-feet (176 cm) tall. Antigone antigone sharpii is Critically Endangered according to the IUCN, with maybe 200 individuals remaining across the wetlands of Southeast Asia. In the last 2 years, fewer and fewer have arrived in farmer Khean Khoay’s rice paddy.
In the village of Koh Chamkar, in Cambodia, Khoay tends his rice paddy on the fringes of the Mekong delta, the spillway of the longest river in Southeast Asia, and one of the most fertile agricultural areas in the region. Khoay is one of 16 farmers in the village, lying on the edge of the protected area of Anlung Pring, where farming is practised in accordance with an agreement made with NatureLife—a Cambodian conservation society funded by the IUCN Netherlands and BirdLife International.
The eastern sarus cranes stalk the embankments of the fields where they pluck rice grains before harvest season.
To encourage the migratory bird to return year after year to the safe and protected paddies, NatureLife pays a 10-year lease on the farmer’s land upfront, which is equivalent to around 30% more than net income on it, to grow native short-grain wild rice varietals which the cranes prefer.
Currently 42 acres of farmed land in Koh Chamkar has been turned over to native rice cultivation, which yields about half as much as jasmine rice.
“We are aware of the yield limitations but we don’t mind as we are keeping [half] the rice for the cranes,” Bou Vorsak, CEO of NatureLife Cambodia, told The Guardian.
The agreement also stipulates that the farmers are not to sell off their land under the lease period, and use only natural pesticides and fertilizers. In return they are sold rice seed at subsidized prices, as well as organic farming supplies and instruction from NatureLife’s partners. If all the conditions are met, NatureLife will pay market rate for the 5% of rice left to the birds with money received from the Cambodian environmental ministry.
This year, the 16 farmers from last season have increased to 40, and another farming village of Chress has joined the program. Together they are providing around 84 acres of protected farmland for the cranes.
“I only recall seeing this strange, tall bird with a red head,” farmer Tom Ke told The Guardian. “I have now started to pay more attention to them. With more food available for them, I hope they won’t become extinct.”
With NatureLife’s long term vision of bringing 2,600 acres of farmland around the Anlung Pring protected area, come what may there will be substantial food always available for the migrating cranes, and that’s hopeful for the species.
Quote of the Day: “Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.” – Christian D. Larson
Photo: by Johannes Plenio
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Sometimes you have to miss a connection to make a connection—and if that’s not a wise old adage yet, it should be. For two waylaid airline passengers stuck in wintry weather at a Toronto airport in 2003, their canceled flights turned into a layover of love at first sight.
Little did Jennifer Lowther, then 29, realize she was about to meet her “knight in shining armor.” All she knew that morning as she hunkered down in tears was that she was about to miss her best friend’s wedding.
The nuptials, at which Jennifer was supposed to serve as master of ceremonies, was set to take place in her hometown of Winnipeg the following day—but with the snow closing in and no flights going out, it looked as if the cause was lost.
Enter 34-year-old Chris Powell, a veteran business traveler for whom scheduling snafus were just part of the game. Waiting out the delay in the airport lounge, Chris noticed Jennifer’s distress.
Winning her over with his dry wit, Jennifer was soon sitting with a group of other stranded souls sharing their stories, venting their frustrations, and imbibing an adult beverage or two as the day passed.
Although romance was the last thing on his mind, Chris felt an instant rapport with the woman he’d found crying into her breakfast—and Jennifer felt it as well.
The waiting vigil became an impromptu party, with Chris and Jennifer serving as the de facto host and hostess. Sharing banter and making jokes helped everyone pass the time. Even though they’d just met, others who later joined the group assumed they were a couple.
Meanwhile, the two travelers who’d just met were beginning to feel like they’d known one another forever.
Jennifer Powell
So, when 4 o’clock rolled around and the last flight to Winnipeg was canceled, unable to bear Jennifer’s devastation, Chris was determined to move heaven and earth to make sure his newfound soulmate would be there when her best friend tied the knot.
There weren’t any flights to her destination, so what were the alternatives?
Chris was booked on a 9 p.m. flight to Vancouver. If Jennifer went there as well—even though it was out of her way by two hours—would she be able to backtrack to Winnipeg in time to make the wedding? With a stopover the following morning in Edmonton, it would be cutting it close, but if all went according to plan, it was doable.
At 9 o’clock that night, the pair boarded the Vancouver-bound plane. They even managed to get seats together. From there, the romance really took off—with a kiss “right out of the movies.”
“We actually kissed the whole way to Vancouver, just sort of like enamored with each other,” Jennifer told CNN Travel.
Once in Vancouver, the exhausted travelers crashed with one of Chris’s friends. After a few short hours of sleep, Jennifer had to be on her way again—but not before she and Chris swapped their contact info and made plans to meet up when they were both back in Toronto.
With a 1 p.m. touchdown in Winnipeg, Jennifer had a scant hour to make it to the church on time, but fellow passengers on the flight who’d been regaled with her herculean exploits thus far cleared the aisles for her and cheered her on as she sped off the plane.
Dashing to her parents’ car, with barely enough time to make herself presentable, her dad somehow managed to drop her off just at the stroke of two. Both Jennifer and the bride, who feared her best friend was about to miss her big day, were overcome with emotion.
While her ex-boyfriend was at the ceremony and she’d toyed with the idea of making another go of it, Jennifer says she realized while she’d only just met him, that her destiny and her future belonged not with someone from her past, but with Chris.
Three months later, they were engaged. They married in 2004.
Jenifer Powell
This storybook tale has an especially poignant twist since Jennifer, who’d been treated for cervical cancer at age 19, was told she’d never be able to conceive. And, just as he’d never really thought about getting married before he met Jennifer, Chris hadn’t really planned on being a dad, either.
When the couple learned she was pregnant with their first child, it came as a surprise to both of them—but a happy one.
The birth of their son Spencer was followed by that of his sister Lauren a few years later. The children, now in their teens, share a special bond with their parents forged in part during a nine-month round-the-world trip the family embarked on five years ago that took them to such far-off sites as Sri Lanka and Argentina.
Jennifer Powell
While Chris and Jennifer might have met under circumstances straight out of a Hallmark made for TV movie, after 18 years, it looks as if they’ve still got a firm foothold on their happily ever after. Although both have changed and matured through the years, they say humor and being willing to go the extra mile for one another are still the defining factors of their marriage.
And no matter what force brought them together for their airport “meet-cute” that day, they’re both grateful.
“It was—I don’t know, cosmic alignment, call it what you will; call it kismet—but it was amazing,” Chris told CNN. “I’m lucky it happened to me. Thanks, fate! So far, so good.”
