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You are here: Home / Nature & Respite / We All Need A Little Kindness / Acts Of Kindness: Pups, Bugs and Plants

Acts Of Kindness: Pups, Bugs and Plants

by TaMara|  January 19, 20229:50 pm| 29 Comments

This post is in: We All Need A Little Kindness

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this dog waiting for the ice cream man is too precious
(jukin media) pic.twitter.com/q7V7LVlwSs

— theworldofdog (@theworldofdog) January 18, 2022

Anne Laurie sent me this tweet thread, with a note asking if it was okay to keep sending this stuff. I was crying by the end of this thread, so I replied to her email with, “sure.”  LOL

When I was 4, I wrote a letter to the Entomology department at UCB. "My name is Rebecca and I have a bug collection. I read about yours and it is bigger than mine is. Can I see it? Also, I have a question. Do walking sticks have knees? Sincerely, Rebecca" ?

— Rebecca Varney (@RebeccaMVarney) January 17, 2022

Apparently I told her that we'd exchanged letters so he didn't count as a stranger and therefore it was safe. And we went, and I had the greatest day of my young life. I remember snippets. Him laughing because I lost my mind at the foot-long walking sticks. ?

— Rebecca Varney (@RebeccaMVarney) January 17, 2022

He let me hold a live scorpion. As my mom tells it, he commented that they made good pets until she shot him an absolute death glare over my head, at which point he clarified "but only in museums and zoos". I also met a tarantula, a hissing cockroach, and live walking sticks.?

— Rebecca Varney (@RebeccaMVarney) January 17, 2022

Apparently, I promptly declared that I would go to college, and get a PhD, so I could work somewhere like that. He shook my hand and told me it was a pleasure to meet another biologist. ?

— Rebecca Varney (@RebeccaMVarney) January 17, 2022

I’m now following her because in the replies, folks are working hard to find who this wonderful gentleman is…there are some promising candidates. If you have a chance, the replies in the thread are just as inspiring, many folks have had life-changing encounters at a young age that set them on their career paths.

And somewhere in a drawer at UC Berkeley there's a foot-long walking stick partially responsible for my college education. ?‍♀️ If anybody knows who this amazing tour guide may have been, let me know! Otherwise, do outreach and answer the weird questions!

— Rebecca Varney (@RebeccaMVarney) January 17, 2022

A plant lounge – brilliant!

Well, now I’m inspired…

And obligatory puppy pics:

Acts Of Kindness: Pups, Bugs and Plants

Just for perspective – I can palm a basketball and here is Bixby’s paw at a year (!). She sounds like a little kid wearing her daddy’s slippers walking down the hall. I don’t know what I’ve gotten myself into here.

She’s 15 weeks old and I wish I could tell you that she’s anything but sweet, kind and always trying to please, but I can’t. She’s dangerous…because I KNOW that Great Dane puppies are a handful and she makes me feel like I could handle a houseful. I’m avoiding all rescue sites until sanity is restored.

Acts Of Kindness: Pups, Bugs and Plants 1

 

More sleeping puppies here – it takes a lot of energy to grow a puppy to Great Dane size.

I am really enjoying the Acts of Kindness you guys have been sending me. My plan is to post two in each Wednesday post. So keep them coming. I reply with a “thank you” to each one, so if you didn’t get a reply email, try again.

Enjoy!

 

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Reader Interactions

29Comments

  1. 1.

    debbie

    January 19, 2022 at 10:10 pm

    Oh, that pup! ? Reminds me of the little girl watching for the mailman to come so they could dance together.

  2. 2.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 19, 2022 at 10:28 pm

    Look! At! Those! Ears! :)

  3. 3.

    Leslie

    January 19, 2022 at 10:37 pm

    I’m so glad you’re doing this. I love the ice cream dog and the plants and the entomology tour guide, and especially the Great Dane photos.

  4. 4.

    Wag

    January 19, 2022 at 10:40 pm

    I saw that amazing thread last night and knew it was perfect for this group of delightful miscreants.   BJ is a special place.

  5. 5.

    Poe Larity

    January 19, 2022 at 10:40 pm

    Not exactly career path, but…

    Many decades ago, when learning disabilities were just bad behavior and vitamin R was not a solution, a young teacher from the east moved to Colorado. She was up on the latest in LD research.

    Her first second grade class had a student who couldn’t read. She had an idea as to why. She did some research, and there just happened to be an unconvential ophthalmologist in Denver who treated LD. She talked to the parents, the kid went to the dr office three times a week, and a year later the kid was kicked out of the Jr High library because the content he was checking out was above his grade.

    The next day, a classmate arrived and told the student “Your mom is downstairs screaming at the Librarian and the Principal.”

    The kid ended up having the run of the library, staying out of jail and worked on the space program and a big computer company. He did fail to convincingly argue for Pluto’s planetary status against some rando drop-out astronomy grad student (working on his teaching cert) using his class to sharpen his arguments against that “snowball.”

    He got an A in the class, but lost a planet, and the grad student went on to become director of the Hayden Planetarium.

  6. 6.

    Lyrebird

    January 19, 2022 at 10:48 pm

    @Poe Larity: That’s an awesome story too.

    Props to the mom as well as the teacher!

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    January 19, 2022 at 10:48 pm

    Need a feel goad vibe and a smile? Amazingly, this was originally aired live. In 1958. In one take. Those early cameras and cables and lights were far from the easiest to move around.

    Steve and Eydie and Ann and Steve and Dinah. Oh, and a cameo by some guy named Frank.

    :·D

  8. 8.

    NotMax

    January 19, 2022 at 10:50 pm

    @<a href=”https://balloon-juice.com/2022/01/19/acts-of-kindness-pups-bugs-and-plants/#comment-8403292″>NotMax</a>

    Grumble, grumble.

    feel goad = feel good

  9. 9.

    Benw

    January 19, 2022 at 10:50 pm

    Love the Trixie pics! And Scout seems to be rolling with it.

    My son is currently chasing our labradane around the house because he (the dog) saw SMALL DOGS and DEER on our late night walk tonight and he is FIRED UP

  10. 10.

    CaseyL

    January 19, 2022 at 10:50 pm

    She’s dangerous…because I KNOW that Great Dane puppies are a handful and she makes me feel like I could handle a houseful.

    Wait till she hits adolescence. You’ll have all the Dane Angst you can handle.

  11. 11.

    TaMara

    January 19, 2022 at 11:09 pm

    @debbie:  I hadn’t seen that before. Loved it.

    @Poe Larity: Great story!

     

    Thanks you guys, y’all are brightening up a cold, icy day.

  12. 12.

    Chetan Murthy

    January 19, 2022 at 11:17 pm

    A friend turned me on to “you po mian” (Chinese hot oil noodles): https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022213-yo-po-mian

    also: https://thewoksoflife.com/hot-oil-noodles-you-po-mian/

    My friend’s twist on this is: instead of special noodles, use the noodles from a packet of ramen.  So: 20c a packet (AMZN reliably sells 24 packets for <$5).  Add a baby bok choy (87c) and a little scallion, plus garlic chili flakes, and maybe some miso, and you’re coming on around $2, and it’s *delicious*.  And vegan!  Who knew?

    It’s one pot for the noodles & greens, and the wok for assembling.  And so fast (2-3min for boiling noodles & blanching greens).

    I had no idea such a dish existed, but now that I know, I’m on the trawl for others.

    ETA: and of course, you can use other greens (chinese broccoli, spinach, kale …)

  13. 13.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 19, 2022 at 11:23 pm

    @TaMara:

    Thanks you guys, y’all are brightening up a cold, icy day. 

    How’s the snow situation?

  14. 14.

    TaMara

    January 19, 2022 at 11:25 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: No snow, ice storm today. Trixie just went outside and splayed out on all fours on the patio it was so icy.

    Tomorrow should be nicer.

  15. 15.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 19, 2022 at 11:29 pm

    @TaMara:

    Like Bambi :-)

    https://youtu.be/s3womp1b1I4

  16. 16.

    Gretchen

    January 20, 2022 at 12:10 am

    My daughter FaceTimed me tonight and held a positive test strip up to the screen.  Oh, no, not another covid case! We’ve had several in the last week.  No, she’s pregnant! Good news! So surprising!

  17. 17.

    Poe Larity

    January 20, 2022 at 12:18 am

    @Gretchen: Congrats!

  18. 18.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 20, 2022 at 12:22 am

    @Gretchen: ? You could’ve told us out right that she was pregnant.  Congrats!

  19. 19.

    TKH

    January 20, 2022 at 12:28 am

    @Chetan Murthy: chopped leek & chopped celery ~1:1, heat in wok in neutral oil, when almost done add finely chopped ginger and garlic, after 1 min add soy sauce and steam for a minute. In another pot heat water and add 1 bundle of Japanese buckwheat noodles ( a Bittman recipe). You can add cubed fish ( near the end) or chicken (fry first in the wok, remove and add again near the end)

    cheers

  20. 20.

    TaMara

    January 20, 2022 at 12:39 am

    I put up an open thread so you can discuss whatever…

    Nite all.

  21. 21.

    Gretchen

    January 20, 2022 at 1:24 am

    @mrmoshpotato: thanks. I didn’t get it right off.  I’m so used to bad news!

  22. 22.

    Leslie

    January 20, 2022 at 1:57 am

    @Chetan Murthy:

    @TKH:

    Sounds delicious. Thanks!

  23. 23.

    Emerald

    January 20, 2022 at 1:59 am

    My sister knows a man with a Ph.D from Berkeley in insect pathology. His photo doesn’t look old enough for him to have been the man in the story, but perhaps he might have an inkling about who it might have been. He’s named Dennis Merritt, and can be contacted via “IntregralPsychology.com.” If anybody wants to try to track the guy down.

    Hope Rebecca has had luck on Twitter! It’s a wonderful story!

  24. 24.

    gene108

    January 20, 2022 at 2:29 am

    I’m blown away how well Rebecca Varney could read and write at four years old.

  25. 25.

    rikyrah

    January 20, 2022 at 5:57 am

    The puppy???

  26. 26.

    BretH

    January 20, 2022 at 8:33 am

    Hope it’s not too late but my good friend and tennis partner Pat made a lovely and moving animation about a similar “Bug Story” – how a boy had his love of insects and collecting encouraged in much the same way. The boy went on to become the curator at a major natural history museum.

    I highly encourage taking the 4 minutes to watch this sublime story:

    https://youtu.be/HwaaH6ILs40

  27. 27.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 20, 2022 at 9:03 am

    @BretH:

    What a terrific little film! Thank you — great way to start a new day.

  28. 28.

    J R in WV

    January 20, 2022 at 9:45 am

    Snowed more last night, on top of melted refrozen snow from last weekend. Called our great dentist office to cancel today’s appointment, when she asked when to reschedule I said “After snow season… how about April?”

    Will read Congressman Schiff’s thread asap.

  29. 29.

    TaMara

    January 20, 2022 at 10:33 am

    @BretH: I have now added that to my file and will use it in a future post. Thank you. Started the day off just right.

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