Have you ever wondered what it might be like to have a treehouse as a child? Well, we’ve got a list of the best treehouse staycation spots to visit this summer.

First things first, this treehouse is exactly what its name suggests, a flower-friendly outdoor paradise. For $250 a night, this rental comes with a seasonally available garden tour for you and up to three more guests — all over the age of 21, of course.

This staycation spot in the South is a great way to be immersed in nature while enjoying the comfort of a cozy home. It’s only two acres of land and nearly 20 minutes away from a nearby city Tyron, North Carolina and 10 minutes away from Downtown Landrum. It holds up to 4 guests and will cost you around $265 a night before taxes.

This neat getaway houses two guests and is located near a quiet area in central Vermont, in the wilderness of the Green Mountain National Forest in three trees above high ground. And during your stay, you can arrange on in-house massage (按摩) therapist, so you’ll likely never want to return home. A night at the Sugar Maple for you and a guest sits at about $159.

This next one is a bit of a luxury stay. At $800 a night for you and 5 others, the “Peaceful Treehouse With Ocean View” is bound lo lake your breath away. This house in the trees is full of floor-to-ceiling windows and slide doors inspired by Japanese screens.

My mother-in-law asked me to climb a mountain in her rural village. We went through tall and weedy expanse of grass, pulling ourselves up with the help of smooth bamboo trees. Weathered gray rocks dotted tracks only visible to an experienced hiker. The view we were rewarded with halfway up the mountain, fixing our eyes upon the colorful pieces of fields and whitewashed homes set against the deep green hills and a sky so blue that it looked digitally polished, was a side benefit of being there.

Our eyes were mostly on the wild eatable plants that grew on the mountainside. We first came upon the wild mountain bamboo, a plant that was the main part in my mother-in-law’s salted bamboo shoots that, once preserved, could be used all year long in cooking. Along the way, we also encountered another precious wild food — fiddlehead ferns (蕨菜). Those delicate leaves, when stir-fired, were a tasty treat. Once I had purchased fiddleheads at a market in the US. Yet there we were, picking this prized vegetable on our own, with only our labor as the cost.

What we had collected that afternoon looked the same as any other wild mountain bamboo shoots and fiddlehead ferns I had seen before in my mother-in-law’s kitchen. And yet, they felt different to me because I had used my own hands to help pick them and carry them back down the mountain. Spending time and energy gathering these wild plants gave me a deeper appreciation for the food that ends up on the dinner table.

“Many generations have kept this natural lifestyle. We depend on the mountains for our life,” my mother-in-law says. Those mountains and rivers supporting her life aren’t some abstract concept. They are right there, outside her door and within her rural village. Once I saw them through her angle that afternoon, I realized they are closer to me than I ever imagined.

Dr Tamara Scully, a psychologist who works with children, young people and adults, shares how grandparents can help children’s well-being.

It is difficult to search for the answer to the main mental health challenges facing children. Over the past two years, there has been an increase in child and adolescent mental health difficulties. In particular, there has been a significant increase in anxiety and eating disorders, both of which are the consequence of the COVID-19. Young people are also reporting a much higher level of solitude (孤独), which may arise from spending too much time on cellphones, televisions and computers.

All these will deeply affect how they behave in their daily life. And it’s absolutely normal for young people to move up and down the mental health curve (曲线). “We get concerned when we notice big changes in their behavior that don’t pass in a few weeks. For example, grandchildren stop meeting friends, stay in their bedroom or lose interest in things they used to enjoy.”

So what role can grandparents play in ensuring their grandchildren’s well-being? According to Scully, the most important thing grandparents can offer is simply themselves, just being there, listening and accepting. There’s a lovely saying that it takes a village to raise a child. Relationships are the biggest predictors of happiness and success throughout the whole life. Strong positive relationships build resilience (抗逆力) in our young people.

Grandparents should also be present and give their time. They can give their time directly to their grandchildren and to their own children. A parent who is allowed time to refuel will show up as a better parent. They can help their grandchildren by being on their team and sitting with them when times are tough. All children benefit from something called relational wealth and this is a grandparent’s most important contribution to the growth of their younger generations.

A fourth color might be added to traffic lights to better realize the potential of self-driving vehicles, as stated in a recent paper by researchers at North Carolina State University in the US.

Autonomous vehicles can do more than just drive-they are able to sense their surroundings and upload information. A shared network gives orders to stop at a crossing based on traffic conditions.

The added white lights would be used to signal to human drivers that autonomous vehicles are managing the upcoming traffic flow intelligently. Drivers don’t have to check the traditional lights if the white one is on. “The white lights will tell human drivers to simply follow the car in front of them,” one of the study authors Ali Hajbabaie told the university’s website.

Simulated (模拟的) models showed that autonomous vehicles were able to improve traffic flow on their own. Introducing the white light also has a positive effect on reducing fuel consumption. The higher the percentage of autonomous vehicles at a crossing, the faster the traffic moves, reducing about 40 to 99 percent of the total delay time.

What kind of infrastructure (基础设施) is needed as self-driving technology thrives? In an interview with China Surveying and Mapping magazine, Liu Jingnan at the Chinese Academy of Engineering shared his answers.

To begin with, the vehicle’s network that collects data about the environment and shares the data with other vehicles needs to be intelligent. High-precision maps are needed for autonomous vehicles to plan routes in detail. They can provide both updated information on traditional maps and real-time changes, such as accidents.

For example, when driving around a curve, the navigation (导航) system in the vehicle needs to calculate the safe speed based on the map’s information. And if the area is foggy, the network has to alarm the other cars to slow down.

Other elements on the road need to be upgraded too. For example, road markings should be precise and readable for machines. Sensors should be built on sidewalks and roads to allow vehicles to predict potentially dangerous situations.