STRICTLY POSITIVE

It struck me that these posts were becoming very animal-heavy. Anyone who knows me is aware of my love of animals and the feel-good nature of animal news, pictures, and hijinks is quite evident. But I didn't want this weekly post to become all about the animals. Animals are an easy way to let in the light. Too easy, and I wasn't working to find the good in our own humanity. To really feel we're not doomed, I think it's important to put a little more emphasis on what good our fellow humans are up to, for it is we, not the animals, who seem to find that so difficult.

That being said, here are some positive things I saw, read, or heard about people this week:

Exhibit A:  Mo'ne Davis is more calm, cool, collected, and mature at thirteen than many of our fellows will be in a lifetime. A college baseball player recently referred to Mo'ne as a "slut" on Twitter and was promptly thrown off the team. Despite his inexcusable behavior, Mo'ne is the one who came to his defense, emailing the school to ask that he be reinstated. "Everyone makes mistakes and everyone deserves a second chance," Mo'ne wrote.  I, for one, can't wait to see the biopic Disney is putting together on this class act (who can throw hard cheese like nobody's business).

I have read some backlash about this story, particularly an article, written by a man, about how it's wrong that the emphasis is the lauding of Mo'ne when it should be on the despicable act of a grown man towards a teenage girl. Mo'ne is a girl, soon to be a woman. She's playing a "man's game." She's outspoken and well-spoken. She's beautiful. Unfortunately, the odds are she's going to get comments like these for the rest of her life. There will always be despicable people saying and doing despicable things. And while I think we should all fight against those things, I choose to celebrate this awesome young woman loudly.

Exhibit B:  Two-year-old Quincy Kroner idolizes his neighborhood garbage men. So much so that his parents got him a toy garbage truck as a prize for successful potty-training. One recent Friday, Quincy got a chance to show off his toy and pose for a picture with his heroes (he got a bit emotional, as you can see). Now that they know Quincy is a fan, these men "put on a show" for him each week as they go by. It's not something they have to do, it takes time out of their day, but they do it, knowing how much it means to a little boy. Goodonya, gentlemen.

Exhibit C:  The basketball team from private school Vanguard College Prep in Waco, TX, recently said they would refuse to play against the Gainesville, TX, Tornadoes - a juvenile correction facility team. Why? Because they didn't think it was right to play against a team that didn't have a fan-base. So a couple of the players asked some of their own fans to cheer for Gainesville instead. The Tornadoes walked out to signs of support, their own cheerleaders, and an assigned rooting section.  "I think in a way this is kind of how sports should be," said one of the Vanguard players. "We all need someone to believe is us. We all need someone who knows our mistakes and loves us anyway."  A few of the Tornado players said they would remember the gesture for the rest of their lives. Talk about making a difference. I love this story.

Exhibit D:  I love trees. Not the pretty, flowery kind, but the stark, mostly bare, interestingly-limbed kind. So when I saw this article about the supposed 16 most beautiful trees in the world, I had to take a gander. I have to say, these are pretty spectacular trees. Even the flowery ones moved me, but these two were my favorites. The bark in that lower shot is one of the coolest tree things I've ever seen, though it seems evident from the ground cover that the colors have been saturated more than a bit (don't get me started on what Photoshop has done to photography, this is a strictly positive post). Don't care, it's totally nifty:

Exhibit E:  This pub sign simply made me laugh out loud:

Thanks to Sarah Ward Smith for sharing this one on the social medias for all to enjoy.

Whew. Managed an animal-free, all-positive post. Animal-free won't last for long, there are too many good things on that front to share. And really, what is a day, a post, an anything, without animals?

TGIF, y'all.