United States of America Scoping: Fat bears, magical places and happily-ever-afters

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October 2, 2021

It's funny that we generally think fairy tales are magical and uplifting, when a lot of the original versions were downright graphic! For every royal wedding in fairy tale land, there's a jilted mermaid dissolving into sea foam or an evil stepsister getting her eye pecked out by crows. Imagine what Disney World (which is now celebrating its 50th anniversary) would be like if they only stuck to the primary source material. Haunting! But hey, sometimes you need to invent your own happy ending. There are a lot of magical places and happily-ever-afters in this week's Good Stuff -- no make-believe necessary.

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Our favorites this week

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

We are family
Four years ago, a heartbreaking assignment changed Lt. Brian Zach's life for good -- and for the better. Zach responded to a welfare check in Kingman, Arizona, where he met 2-year-old Kalia. The little girl was covered in bruises, had a fractured skill and other injuries. As they waited for social workers to help get Kalia out of her abusive home, Zach made friends with his small charge. In fact, they got on so well that authorities later contacted him when they were searching for a foster family. Zach, along with his wife and two children, immediately said yes. They were only supposed to have a short time together, but before they knew it, the family was making memories with Kalia. They were seeing her off to school and taking fun trips. Now, they're her real, adoptive family.

Because you're mine, I walk the line

When people ask, "Where did you get married?" Karen Mahoney and Brian Ray will have quite a story to tell. These newlyweds wanted Mahoney's parents and 96-year-old grandmother to be at their wedding (because weddings are about family, after all!), but there was one small problem: The family lives in Canada, and the couple lives in the US. Canada is restricting land border crossings due to Covid-19, and Mahoney didn't want to put her grandmother through the stress and risks of air travel. So, with the guidance of a friend who works for border patrol, they met in the middle. Literally. In a field on the edge of the US-Canada border near Burke, New York, the happy couple said their vows on the US side while Mahoney's family looked on lovingly from the other. Remember what I said about making your own happily-ever-after? This is how you do it!

Photo credit: National Park Service

Chunky legends
It's Fat Bear Week! It's Fat Bear Week! This yearly promenade of blubbery, tubby, oh-so-healthy bears is truly a time of plenty. For those of you new to Fat Bear Week, it is a March Madness style tournament, complete with a bracket, where you can vote on the plumpest brown bear in Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve. The park calls the event "a celebration of success," since the bears are preparing to enter their dens for the winter and will go without food or water for months. "For bears, fat equals survival," Katmai's website says. You can vote on the bears here, or watch a live cam of brown bears from inside the park. (I am watching it now, and they are surprisingly nimble for being so large!) The bear to beat this year is Bear 747 (pictured above), which was the 2020 champion, weighing in at an estimated 1,400 pounds.

A round of applause to ...

The newest class of MacArthur Foundation fellows! Commonly known as the "genius grant," the MacArthur grant is awarded every year to people from all passions, professions and walks of life, and it consists of a $625,000, no-strings-attached grant paid out over five years. Among this year's 25 fellows are:

Ibram X. Kendi, author of 2019's "How to Be an Antiracist," and who was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in 2020.
Cristina Ibarra, a documentary filmmaker who is known for creating narratives about Latino families living in borderland communities.
Trevor Bedford, a Seattle-based computational virologist who has been developing tools for tracking virus evolution.

Although it's understood these "geniuses" will continue to use their talents to make the world a better place, Bedford had a particularly complex view on his award, saying it feels "perhaps uncomfortable to be professionally rewarded for doing something that felt like a moral imperative."

A bright idea

As an avid pea-hater*, I was absolutely disgusted to hear about this new pea-based gin. On the other hand, gin is delicious, and the use of peas makes it particularly environmentally friendly! Arbikie Highland Estate in Arbroath has created a line of spirits called Nàdar, which is made using fermented peas instead of wheat for the base spirit. Stay with me now: Unlike most plants, peas and other legumes don't need fertilizer, and can in fact fertilize other plants around them. Because of this, peas don't require synthetic fertilizer and can remove nitrogen from the air as they grow. Very pro-environment of them! After being made into delicious, delicious gin, the pea waste is turned into animal feed, which reduces carbon emissions associated with feed production.

*If you love peas, I don't want to hear about it. I love y'all, Good Stuff family, you know this. But take your pro-pea-ganda elsewhere.

You gotta see this

This stunning four-fingered ring is part of a new exhibition at Sotheby's New York celebrating the art and impact of Black jewelers. Designed by Johnel Jamison for his brand Johnny Nelson, this piece features hand-carved likenesses of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey and Frederick Douglass, forming what Jamison calls the "civil rights Mount Rushmore." The exhibition "Brilliant & Black: A Jewelry Renaissance" showcases 21 Black jewelry designers, from current jewelers-to-the-stars to overlooked African American creators dating back to the 1950s. Melanie Grant, the exhibition's curator, said she wanted to expand the perception of Black jewelers by honoring not only those paying tribute to Black and African cultures, but those who break away from tradition and innovate.

Wanna get away?

Photo credit: VisitDenmark

Since we're talking fairytales, let's step into two magical places this week. First, Denmark! The capital city of Copenhagen is commonly known as the fairy tale capital of the world thanks to native son Hans Christian Anderson, who wrote "The Little Mermaid" and "The Emperor's New Clothes." But it isn't just fiction that makes Denmark so enticing to the imagination. Take the Egeskov Castle, on the island of Funen. At more than 450 years old, it's Europe's best-preserved Renaissance water castle.

Across the world, this purple-hued paradise in Tokyo isn't exactly what it seems. This immersive installation, made up of more than 13,000 real orchids, is called "Floating Flower Garden; Flowers and I are of the Same Root, the Garden and I are One." The blooms grow along near-invisible wires suspended from the ceiling, giving the impression you're waking into a floating garden. Once you step into the space, technology subtly takes over: Triggered by sensors, the flowers slowly start to rise, luring you further in. Then, they descend again, enveloping you fully in fragrant cascades of flowers.

Hear, hear!

Make the most of the best and the least of the worst.

- Attributed to Scottish poet and author Robert Louis Stevenson (suggested by reader Mary K.)

Who knew?

Would you rather have a calm life or an exciting one? That was the question at the center of a newly released 2020 international Gallup Poll, and the findings are fascinating. At least 1,000 people were interviewed from each of the 116 countries and territories included in the poll, and then were ordered by region depending on how many people preferred calm to exciting. East Asia ranked the highest among regions with 85%. Latin America ranked second with 82%; the US and Canada came in further down at 75%; Australia and New Zealand followed with 73%; Eastern Europe reported 71% and Western Europe 68%. Overall, 72% of adults preferred a calm life to an exciting one. Now, time for a nap!

Rec of the week

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Shameless animal video

There's always time for cute animal videos. That time is now.

Animals listening to music is such a fertile cute video genre, but what's great about this short clip of a squirrel is the little guy really looks like he's paying attention! Who doesn't love dinner and a show? (Click here to view)