Spotted lanternflies (斑点灯笼蝇) are an invasive species. Since 2014, they have been seen all across the eastern United States. The insects are harmful to many plants, and can disturb entire ecosystems. State officials have urged people to kill spotted lanternflies wherever they see them.

When Joy saw the pests in her school courtyard, she thought she had to do something. “I’ve always wanted to take environmental action,” she says, “and show people that no one is ever too small to make a difference.”

So she started a club called Squash (压扁). Its mission is to kill spotted lanternflies around the school. More than 20 students have joined. At first, they trapped the pests in empty water bottles and then squashed them. In a single day, the club managed to kill more than a hundred spotted lanternflies.

Joy wanted to do more. With research, she discovered a plant called milkweed. It’s nutritious for pollinators (传粉昆虫) such as monarch butterflies but poisonous to spotted lanternflies. Joy thought that using milkweed along with the traps made specifically for spotted lanternflies would be a better way to kill them. The issue was that they didn’t have enough money to buy milkweed and the traps.

The kids were hoping to raise money for their school to address the big problem. Their goal was to raise $200, the cost of the equipment needed to kill spotted lanternflies around their school. They got part of the way there, with about $75. They decided to attract more fundraisers. “We discovered that if you find your voice,” Joy says, “you can do much more.”

In May, Joy and other students from Squash gathered in Columbus Park, in New York City. They set up a table with lemonade, cookies, and origami figures for sale. The money will be used to buy milkweed and the traps.

To attract more attention, the students divided their work into various roles.

As the day progressed, the students’ efforts paid off.

Harry was afraid of the wind, I blew of his hat. I whistled under his door. It made the iron fence murmur scary music.

“How can anyone be afraid of the wind?” asked Harry's friend Antony many times. Harry shrugged. Antony always comforted him and encouraged him. Sometimes that made Harry feel better. But not for long.

On windy days Harry sod at his window and watched Antony riding his bike, whose hair flew in the wind. He watched his friend playing cheerfully in the wind, wishing he weren't afraid.

One day Antony came to Harry's house to play. “Look at my glider(滑翔机),” said Antony. “It does tricks and loop-de-loops when I fly it outside in the wind.” “Nice,” said Harry.

When clouds rolled in, the tree in front of Harry's house swung. A garbage can top clattered(发出撞击声) down the street. Antony couldn't wait to fly the glider outside and invited Harry to play together, but he refused.

Harry staved inside and played with his construction set. He pictured launching the glider with Antony. But when he imagined the wind blowing against his face and blowing off his hat, he shivered.

Harry drew pictures of Antony's glider lifting with the wind. Gradually, hearing the happy laughter and shouts of more children outside, he felt sad to be in his room while everyone else was there.

Harry began to make a kite. He took two sticks from his craft bin and crossed them. He tied them together and made a diamond shape with four more sticks. He glued the colored paper onto the sticks and attached a ball of string to make a rudder(方向舵). He held the kite up high, his twinkling eyes staring at it.

He pretended the kite was flying against the clouds.

Finally, Harry took his kite and went outside.

When my husband Randy died in late fall, deciding what to do with his garden was way down on the list of necessary tasks. During the first few months, I cried with our daughters, planned a memorial, cried with my family, celebrated a quiet Thanksgiving, and panicked over not having bought Christmas presents.

As the calendar turned to a new year, the often rainy days and long nights deepened my sorrow. I found myself exhausted at the end of February, both physically and mentally.

Then the daffodils bloomed (开花) in the garden.

Years before, Randy had planted dozens of these lemon-yellow flowers. To him, they served as a reminder of hope, a promise that light and warmth would soon replace cold and dark. Looking at those dauffodils, I thought about how Randy had considered our garden a living work of art, carefully choosing plants so we’d see new blooms every month.

Then I noticed all the weeds that had taken root and spread everywhere. The neglect (疏于打理) showed, for Randy’s illness had lasted a couple of years, a time when he didn’t have energy for yard work the way he had before.

Faced with the neglected garden, I felt overwhelmed in the beginning. My daughters suggested I hire a service to clean everything up. I didn’t respond.

Every time I sat in the garden alone, the memories of the lively garden came flooding, like the numerous scenes in an unforgettable film. Many days Randy came home from work, changed into old clothes, and headed out the door to mow or prune (修剪). Orange dragonflies followed him around the yard as he worked. Honeybees buzzed among the flowers, birds sang beautiful songs, and gentle breezes carried the sweet smell of dirt. No matter how cold or wet it was, the fresh air and physical activity made him energized and refreshed. For Randy, the work was quiet and comforting, which was a relief, as well as a pleasure.

The days grew warmer and lighter, and I started the work myself.

Weeks later, my daughters returned to visit me.

Whether a thing is worth doing or not really depends on how you look at it. If we always ignore our own intention, we will obviously feel unhappy. Thus, take all your courage and do something your heart tells you to do so that you may not regret doing it later in life.

The following story happened in a battlefield during the World War I. The soldiers from two sides were fighting against each other fiercely and there was no sign for the war to stop. All of a sudden terror attacked the heart of Peter, one of the French soldiers, as he saw his friend—Tom, who was born in the same village as him and had played with him happily and joined the army at the same time falling in the battle. Caught in the trenches (战壕) with continuous gunfire whizzing (嗖嗖地移动) over his head, Peter was lost in thought. He couldn’t decide whether he should lend a hand to Tom. Eventually he gathered all his courage and asked his officer if he could be allowed to go out into the“No Man’s Land” between the trenches to bring his helpless partner back because he thought there might be some chances of saving him.

“You can certainly go,“ said the officer, who couldn’t understand why Peter had made such a crazy request,“but I don’t think it will be worth it. As you know, your friend is probably dead and if you rush out of the trenches you may possibly throw your own life away.”

Considering the situations of the war, what the officer said really made sense because he didn’t want Peter to risk doing so. However, the officer’s words didn’t matter to Peter, and he had obviously made up his mind and he went anyway bravely.

Much to the officer’s surprise, Peter managed to reach his friend.

“I told you it wouldn’t be worth it,“ the officer said.