【推荐2】I enjoyed this trip for the opportunity to witness the Cranes (鹤) returning from Wood Buffalo National Park, some with their young of the year. I wondered, at the changing skies of Saskatchewan, often the vivid oranges and pinks of a sunset made me pause, but it was the clouds of feathers as ducks, geese, and cranes lifted off fields and lakes in numbers so numerous, they blocked out the sky at times, that blew my mind.

The desire to travel and explore is strong within the human condition. We might think we must journey “away” to enjoy a holiday, and sometimes we do. But other times, a simpler exploration, digging deeply into landscapes and cultures that we think we know, reveals the best sights.

I grew up in Saskachewan when cranes were fighting back from extinction, and I wasn’t a birdwatcher. But, returning with Eagle-Eye Tours as a bird-loving RCGS Travel Ambassador, I wondered at the conservation successes that allowed us to find these rare birds reliably.

My favourite memory from the trip is of an old farmer driving a large truck who slowed down for our group, standing in the middle of a road, excitedly watching a flock of cranes. Rather than scolding us for blocking traffic, he invited us into his backyard for a better view! He explained how he’s been providing quiet reserves for many years as the birds stop to rest and feed before flying south to Texas. It’s moments like this that make the travel special, and companies like Eagle-Eye Tours craft itineraries (行程) that allow these unexpected discoveries.

I enjoyed sharing these experiences with other nature lovers on the Royal Canadian Geographical Society branded trip and look forward to doing it again in October 2024.

【推荐3】Cruz Genet, 11, and Anthony Skopick, 10, couldn’t agree. Were the birds out on the ice ducks or geese? So on a cold January evening last year, the two friends ventured (冒险) onto the frozen pond near their homes in Frankfort, Illinois, to get a better look. First, they threw a rock onto the ice to test it, Cruz told NBC 5 Chicago. “Then we stepped on it.” Convinced the ice would hold their weight, Anthony took a few steps, but then he fell through the seemingly frozen surface.

Cruz rushed to help his panicked friend. However, the pond swallowed him, too. Cruz managed to lift himself out of the extremely cold water and onto a more solid section. He then gingerly worked his way toward Anthony. But the ice didn’t hold, and he fell in again. This ime, he couldn’t get out.

The boys were up to their necks in icy water and quickly losing feeling. Any chance of their freeing themselves was slipping away. Cruz was sure that he was going to die.

Anthony’s older sister had seen the boys fall through the ice and started screaming, wishing someone to save them.

John Lavin, a neighbor driving nearby on his way to the grocery store, heard her. He quickly pulled over. Seeing the boys, he grabbed (抓住) a nearby buoy (救生圈), kicked off his shoes, and ran into the cold water, struggling his way through the ice. Lavin made his way to Cruz and Anthony and pulled them back to land.

The boys were taken to the hospital, where doctors discovered that their five- minute stay in the water had lowered their body temperature nearly ten degrees. Fortunately, they have fully recovered, though they are still a little amazed by their fearless neighbor. “Just to think,” says Cruz, “if he hadn’t been there, I could have died.”

【推荐2】Cal Fire captain Shawn Raley barked evacuation (疏散) orders over the radio for the neighborhood of Sunset Terrace. The sky was red and the wind screamed. New fires lit in bushes and on roofs. Raley, a 24-year veteran of wildland fires, had seen nearly everything, including swirling eddies of air called fire whirls. But he hadn’t seen anything like this.

At around 7:15 p.m., he drove toward areas in the wooded hills. He figured that residents would need help escaping. His headlights barely pierced the smoke, but he could see three bulldozers (推土机) inch past him on two-lane Buenaventura Boulevard. Don Andrews drove one; Terry Cummings and Jimmie Jones drove the other two. They were under swaying electrical line, and Raley shouted at them to move away.

In the driveway of a house, Raley spotted a Tesla with someone in the driver’s seat. Dr. Thiruvoipati Nanda Kumar had raced eight kilometres home from Vibra Hospital. His wife, Yasoda, and daughter, Sushma, hadn’t received an evacuation alert, and when the power cut out, their garage door wouldn’t open. locking their car inside.

“Go back!” Raley shouted at Kumar, sounding his siren.

“My wife and daughter are there. Can they come in? Kumar said, pointing to Raley’s vehicle. He figured they’d be safest with the captain.

“Come in my truck?” Raley asked. “Yes.”

The women jumped into the back seat, coughing. Nearby, flames that climbed 30 meters burned their neighbors’ homes. Soon theirs would fall, as well.

“I’ll lead you out,” Raley yelled to Kumar. “Take your car.”

Debris (碎片) attacked the truck, cracking Raley’s windshield and breaking the other windows as the wind blew the vehicle off the road. The captain threw himself across the passenger seat, protecting his face as the fire passed over them. Yasoda and Sushma screamed.

“Are you okay?” Raley shouted, though he knew the answer. He was embarrassed. He’d told this trapped family that he would get them out safely. Now they were covered in glass and bleeding. Behind them, the trunk of Kumar’s Tesla was a flame.

【推荐3】Ida Nelson was enjoying and relaxing in her bath when she heard the thunder of a small airplane circling the nearby airport. It was 11：30 at night in the Alaskan village of Igiugig, population 70, and, as she told the New York Times,   “Anytime a plane flies over that late, you know something is wrong.”

Nelson and her sister leaped out of the bath, ran to the window and saw the problem: The airport’s runway lights were out. Nelson threw on some clothes, jumped into her ATV,   and floored it to the airport where she found a local pilot trying to turn on the lights manually. “Normally, if you push the button 10 or 15 times, the lights will just light up.” Not this time.Meanwhile, she and the pilot learned of the plane’s urgent mission: It was a medevac (救伤直升机), there to transport a seriously ill local girl to the nearest hospital, 280 miles away in Anchorage.

Nelson had a plan.Driving her ATV to the end of the runway, she switched her headlights on for the plane to follow.Great idea, but it wasn’t enough.More light was needed, so a neighbor called nearly every home in the village - 32 of them. Within 20 minutes, 20 vehicles arrived at the airport, many of the drivers still in pajamas. Following the directions from the medevac pilot, the cars lined up on one side of the runway.

The medevac made its final approach and, guided by the headlights, landed safely. The young patient was loaded onto the aircraft, and the plane immediately took off again. Her illness was never publicly revealed, but she has since recovered and left the hospital.

In a world filled with uncertainty, the little community’s positive activism is a big deal. Not so much for Nelson.As she told CNN, in Igiugig, coming together is “kind of a normal deal.”