1 . “It’s not unusual for guests to feel emotional when they discover the story behind our food,” says Patrick Navis. “Not to mention when they taste it. One even cried with happiness.” The setting for these tearful scenes? Navis’s restaurant in a Dutch city. Here, the owner and his team create experimental food using herbs, roots, flowers and nuts — some common, others less so.

Most of these ingredients (食材) come from the Ketelbroek Food Forest nearby. To the untrained eye, it’s like an ordinary wood. But there’s one key difference: everything in it is edible. It was set up in 2009 by Dutch botanist and environmentalist Noah Eck as an experiment in slow farming, to see what would happen if the right combination of food plants were left to grow together like a natural forest, without chemicals.

“It’s the first ‘food forest’ of its kind in Europe and we’re one of the few restaurants around the world cooperating in this way,”says Navis.“We have over 400 different species of edible plants we plan our menus around, including some we previously knew little about.” He harvests the ingredients and, with his fellow chefs, works them into beautifully presented tasting menus, served in a dining room hidden in the backstreets of the city,

“To us, fine dining is not about the fame of a restaurant, its location, expensive decoration, fancy cooking and wine list,”says Navis.“It’s about adding value through creativity and using ingredients nobody knows of, which are grown with great attention.” However, he adds, luxury cooking can be about enhancing everyday ingredients, too.

“When looking at cooking in this way, who can argue that caviar (鱼子酱), for example, is more valuable than a carrot grown with specialist knowledge?”

Experimentation is extremely important to Navis. In the next five years, he hopes to open an outdoor restaurant. But for now, the most important thing is to continue focusing on how plants are being grown and the perennial system used in the Food Forest, reducing the need for replanting each season.

2 . It was dinner time, yet I hadn’t finished my work for the day. Cheery people who were enjoying their holiday time buzzed around me. But with my head down and headphones in, I had interacted with very few of them. The day passed more like a fast-forwarded video than something that I actually fully experienced.     1    

This was my first week living the digital nomad lifestyle. I had left my corporate role and found freelance (自由职业的) writing work online to afford me the freedom to travel.     2     With enthusiasm, I expected my attitude would also change. Instead, the first surprising realization of my travel journey had hit: despite changing my formal suits to casuals, I was the exact same person I had been at home.

I had prepared excitedly, surfing online about digital nomadism.     3    While you might expect finances to be the biggest killer of this lifestyle, unrealistic expectations are the death blow that I hear about most often. After six years abroad, realism is now the primary message I share.

    4     Instead of an office room, you’ll work from a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean or a sunny rooftop in the heart of Marrakesh. Instead of waiting at the coffee machine next to complaining colleagues, your daily coffee run will lead you down dusty cobblestone streets into tiny cafes. These dreams exist and are waiting for you once you clear customs.

But that’s not all that’s waiting for new digital nomads.     5     At-home life and life on the road can at times feel shockingly similar, or, if bad work habits take over, even worse. It’s an important expectation to understand before you set out on your digital nomad lifestyle: your surroundings will change, but you take you everywhere that you go. No matter how ultra-light you pack.

3 . With egg shortages already a familiar sight on supermarket shelves, farmers are warning that vegetables and grains could be next, because environmental plans take out large areas of land that are used for food production.

Stephen Holt, who owns 670 acres in Northamptonshire, said farmers were being incentivized (刺激) by the government subsidy to reduce food production in favour of wildlife. He has signed up to an environmental plan which is being carried out in England under the concept of “public money for public goods”.

“Instead of 1,300 tonnes of product, we will produce 900 tonnes of product from our farm,” Holt said. Under the new plan, his input costs will be reduced and he will be paid a guaranteed (有保证的) sum.

“In my view, the huge danger is that there will be a serious decrease in agricultural output,” he said. “We are not helping but we can't have the whole food system of the UK on our shoulders, because everyone has to act in their individual best interests.”

James Williams, who farms in Oxfordshire, said the environmental plans will reduce the risks in his farm business and that he will not be affected by the weather and international markets. “It does mean that we will be taking perhaps 30 per cent of our wheat land out of production for a season or two, or more,” he said. “What has not been mentioned is that if some disaster fell and our imports were disrupted (扰乱), growing wheat to produce bread could not be turned on like a tap. It will take several years and a significant increase in prices to get production back up to today’s levels.”

The UK produces about 60 per cent of its food consumption, including the majority of grains, meat, dairy and eggs. However, seasonal labour shortages have led many British farm businesses to reduce their production by as much as 20-30 per cent since 2020. Egg production has dropped to its lowest level in nine years.

Liz Webster, a farmer in north Wiltshire, said, “There just doesn't seem to be any thought or concern for food security and food supply. They’ve just left it up to the supermarkets.” The farmers’ concerns include imported food produced in countries with lower welfare (福利) standards, and labelling of food origins. “These imports are packaged here, and if they’re packaged or processed here they can have a British flag, which is absolutely dishonest,” Webster said.

4 . There isn’t much doubt that one of the most influential people in my life was my grandmother Lizzie Kerns.

My brother Mike started the family custom of moving in with Granny Kerns during our high school years. I lived with her all through my senior year. She lives very close to the school, so I’d come over and eat lunch with her. On game days, I’d come over and take a nap from about four o’clock to seven-thirty, since game time was eight o’clock. I’d just go there, lie on the floor and go to sleep. Granny would come in at seven-thirty and say, “You’d better get up. You'll be playing in half an hour.” We used to shoot free throws every morning at six o'clock. One day I just wanted to sleep in. Granny woke me up and said, “Larry, those other boys are down there. You should be down there with them.” I got up and went to free throw practice.

Mark and I would be at Granny's for supper and later on, just before it was time to go to bed, Mark would say, “Mmm, some popcorn would taste good right now. Larry, what would you think about some popcorn?” Granny wouldn’t say a thing. But the next thing you knew, she’d have that pan out and you’d hear that popping sound in the kitchen.

We started moving in with her because we just didn’t have enough room. It was always a problem. After Mike started it, Mark did it for a while and then me. Later on, Eddie used to eat lunch there every day.

Granny was proud of all her grandkids. Oh, she read everything about me she could get her hands on and she knew I’d signed contracts (合同) for big money, but she never discussed it. None of us got special treatment. Granny loved all of us and that's the way it should be.

I’d have given her anything, but what she really wanted was security. Granny just wanted to know she had enough to get by. She always told me one thing, “I’m not afraid to die. When I get old and can’t do it anymore, I'm not going to be afraid to die.” That showed me a lot. Unfortunately, Granny passed away while I was writing this, so she was never able to see that I dedicated (献给) my book to her.

7 . Are you an early bird or a night owl? Our activity patterns and sleep cycles could influence our risk of heart disease. New research published in Experimental Physiology found wake/sleep cycles cause metabolic (新陈代谢) differences and change our body’s preference for energy sources.

Researchers from Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA classified participants into two groups(early and late) based on their natural tendency to seek activity and sleep at different times. The participants were monitored for a week to assess their activity patterns across the day. They ate a calorie and nutrition-controlled diet and had to fast overnight to minimize dietary impact on the results. To study fuel preference, they were tested while at rest before completing two 15-minute period of exercise: one moderate and one high intensity session on a running machine. Aerobic fitness levels were tested through an incline challenge where the incline was raised 2.5% every two minutes until the participant reached a point of exhaustion.

The researchers found that those who stay up later have a reduced ability to use fat for energy, meaning fats may build up in the body and increase the risk of heart disease. People who are ‘early birds’ rely more on fat as an energy source and are more active during the day with, higher levels of aerobic fitness than ‘night owls’. On the other hand, ‘night owls’ use less fat for energy at rest and during exercise.

Researchers also found that early birds use more fat for energy at both rest and during exercise than night owls. Professor Steven Malin from Rutgers University said, “We found that early birds are more physically active and have higher fitness levels than night owls. Farther research is needed to examine the link between exercise and metabolic adaptation to identify whether exercising earlier in the day has greater health benefits.”

8 . A local dog in Moundsville, West Virginia, has captured the admiration of the community by finding over 150 lost disc golf discs at a popular park. Unclaimed (无人认领的) discs will be on sale, with the money obtained going to the park.

Daisy is a four-year-old Labrador Retriever who loves going on walks with her owner, Kelly Mason, at Grand Vue Park. Every day, they walk about five miles through the park. Sometimes, Daisy goes on her own adventure and returns with a souvenir (纪念品).

“Daisy has a nose for finding discs,” Mason told WTRF. “We will be walking through the park and her nose will go up. She can smell them, and she just goes off. She could go off 30 yards through the the high weeds. And here she comes with a disc.”

Since she found her first disc about three years ago, Daisy has got back 155 of them with no plans of stopping anytime soon.

The park recently teamed up with Mason to create a program called Daisy’s Discs.

“Normally when park staff find them or when our park guests find them, all of them are turned into the barn (仓库) area,” says Ben Bolock, the assistant general manager at Grand Vue Park. “Some discs that have names on them, we call them, and people are able to come and pick them up ... they can also make a donation to Daisy’s Discs and that money will fund the Marshall County Animal Rescue League. If discs are found and there’s no name on them and we’ve had them for a long period of time and nobody has claimed them, the park will sell them for a very low amount and that money will go back into the disc golf course.”

9 . Every year as a kid at Girl Scout summer camp, the night I looked forward to most was the closing campfire, a few hours of silliness that marked our final evening together. All week, my roommates and I had kept perfecting our skit (滑稽短剧) performance, editing lines and practicing scenes.

Skits and songs are deeply rooted in the camp experience. The days might be all about sports or nature, but nighttime entertainment is a kid’s dream. Similar to a talent show, some performances are educational but mostly, they just make you laugh. Talent is not important, and audience engagement (参与) through call and response is essential.

Away from phones and peers back home, social norms (规范) disappear and space for self-exploration forms. Shy kids come out of their shells, and cool kids let their guard down. They get to open up this door to a part of themselves that they wouldn’t have felt safe to show at school or at home.

It’s been a decade since my last performance as a camp counselor (顾问), and I never thought of skits from a skill-building aspect. But I now realize this rich camp tradition left a great impression on me. Through camp skits, I developed my sense of humor, built confidence in front of a crowd and learned how to accept others for their strangeness.

Maybe we can make our schools or communities more like summer camps by bringing the silliness of skits into our families and classrooms to reconnect with ourselves and each other. The next time you’re sitting around a campfire with friends and family, give it a try. Let your guard down, accept the discomfort and invite your loved ones to join in on the improvising (即兴创作). And remember: the more funny noises and childlike humor, the better.

10 . Overcoming barriers to exercising

If you’re having trouble beginning an exercise plan or following through, you’re not alone. Detailed exercise instructions and workout plans are just a click awav. But knowing how and why to exercise was far from enough. Making exercise a habit takes more.     1    

While practical concerns like a busy schedule or poor health can make exercise more challenging, for most of us, the biggest barriers are mental. Maybe it’s a lack of self-confidence that keeps you from taking positive steps.     2     . We’ve all been there at some point. There are steps you can take to make exercise-more fun and active.

You don’t have to spend hours in a gym or force yourself into dull or painful activities to experience the physical and mental benefits of exercise.     3     In fact, adding just modest amounts of physical activity to your weekly routine can have a profound effect on your mental and emotional health.

Research shows that self-sympathy increases the likelihood that you’ll succeed in any attempt. So, don’t blame yourself too much for your current fitness level.     4     Instead, look at your past mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow.

    5     Try not to be discouraged by what you can’t accomplish or how far you have to go to reach your fitness goals. Instead, focus on consistency. While the improvements in mood and energy levels may happen quickly, the physical payoff will come in time.