It Wasn't All Bad

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[Orange and Brown]

It was to!!!!

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A strange new breed of palm tree that flowers once every 100 years and then dies a few months later has been discovered in Madagascar. named tahina spectabilis, the tree, which can grow up to 60 feet high, had previously been misidentified as another species because no one had ever seen it bloom. But last year, scientists saw that one specimen was literally dripping with nectar and had sprouted huge fronds, 15 feet across, which resembled a Christmas tree. So far, 62 of the "suicide palms" have been found. "For botanists," said William Bakker of London's Kew Gardens, " it's equivalent to finding a new kind of elephant.

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Finding romance isn't easy in sparsely populated rural America. But the online matchmaking service FarmersOnly is helping. Catering to ranchers, planters, and others who live on farms and prairies, the service has attracted some 85,000 clients and claims to have already yielded at least 40 marriages. Among the happy couples are Tom Henisee and Sonya Rinker, who lived 57 miles apart in south central Pennsylvania. They're marrying in August, and their wedding song will be Kenny Chesney's "She Thinks My Tractor's Sezy."

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On Jan. 22 Ashley Phillips of Manhatten set down her travel case, containing her 6-month-old cat Georgia, on the platform of the 59th Street Lexington Avenue subway stop. Georgia promptly bolted and disappeared into the underground depths. Phillips thought she would never see her again. But two determined transit workers started combing the area, making meowing sounds to draw Georgia out. After 25 days, they found her neatled in a metal drain between two tracks-a bit thinner and with a scratched nose, but otherwise okay. "I'm still in shock," said Phillips. "I kind of gave up hope."

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After a difficult labor, Yvonne Sullivan of Somerset, England went into a coma. About two weeks later, doctors told her husband, Dominic, that they might have to turn off her life support. " I got angry," Dominic recalled. " Grabbed her hand and began shouting at her, Start fighting, don't you dare give up on me." Two hours later, Yvonne began breating more steadily and is now fully conscious and recovering. "I never liked getting told off by Dom," she explained."Somethings inside me just clicked and I began to fight again. It's a miracle."

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two pygmy sperm whales that had become stranded on Mahia Beach in New Zealand were guided to safety by a bottlenose dolphin. Rescurers had tried to get the whales back into the sea, but the creatures were too disoriented in the shallow water to get their bearings. Just when it looked as if the whales would have to be euthanized to stop their suffering, a dolphin-nicknamed Moko by residents-apparently heard the whales' cries for help, approached them, and guided them through a channel into deeper water. Marine biologist Anton van Helden said it was the first time he had ever heard of such an "inter-species" rescue.

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As his train rolled through western Utah, freight conductor Ken VanMoorhem saw a stray mangy dog, lost in the desert. But because the train couldn't stop, the best VanMoorhem could do was tell friends about the dog's approxomate location. Soon, the female dog, a blue heeler mix, was located by rescuers. Though suffering from a broken pelvis and other problems, she is expected to recover. "The vet said she'll be able to have a good quality of life," said VanMoorhem, who has taken the dog in. "Her will to live and survive is amazing."

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When Eli Estrada found $140,000 in a bag in the middle of the street in Cerritos, California, he was tempted to keep it. After all, he has heavy child support payments, his landscaping business is in debt, and his financially strapped mother recently moved in with him. But after wrestling with his conscience, Estrada, 40 turned the money over to the long Beach police, who determined that Brinks armored truck drivers had somehow lost it. Brinks rewarded Estrada's honesty with $2,000. "I've had people come to me with purses and wallets," said police spokewoman Dina Zapalski. "But not like this."

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indeed

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The last fluent speaker of Samala, a Native American tongue of the Chumash people, died in 1965. But the language gained new life last week with the release of a Samala dictionary compiled by linguist Richard Applegate. The 608-page dictionary, 40 years in the making, was unveiled at a ceremony in Santa Ynez, California, that featured Chumash dancers in native dress and goodie bags that included M&Ms stamped with the Sanala words for "good" (choho) and "hello" (haku). "We won't have to constantly go searching for our culture," said Chumash cultural director Nakia Zavalla. "Now it's right here."

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Pierre, a 25-year-old African penguin, was getting so old that he was losing his feathers. He shivered with cold and refused to go near water. But his handlers at the California Academy of Science had a novel solution: a custom-made wet suit.Working with Oceanic Worldwide, a supplier of diving gear, academy scientists made Pierre a close-fitting rubber garment with openings for his flippers, tail, and feet. "I would walk behind him," said biologist Pam Schaller, "and look at where there were any gaps,and cut and refit and cut and refit until it was extremely streamlined." Since wearing the suit, Pierre has gained weight and is again splashing with his fellow penguins.

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In 1972, while Sandy Baumberger was a student at Alton Dental School in Illinios, her wallet was stolen. Last week, more than 35 years later, she got it back. A current student at the school,Eric Wherley,found the wallet in a school bathroom after a water pipe broke and loosened some tiles in the ceiling--where the thief had apparently hidden it. using Baumberger's various identification cards, Wherley enlisted the FBI to help track her down. Among the scraps in the wallet was an autographed picture of Baumberger's college sweetheart, Bruce who had written, "I hope to have you as my own one day." Bruce is now her husband. "It was a trip down memory lane," Baumberger said.

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By all appearances, Val Thomas, 59 of Charleston, W.Va. died last week after suffering two heart attackes. Indeed, at one point she had no brain waves, heart action, or pulse, rigor mortis began to set in. Gathered at her hospital bed, her family directed doctors to disconnect her from life-support. She was connected only to a ventilator as they discussed what to do with her organs. Suddenly, Thomas woke up and started talking. She has since been examined at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, and although doctors are baffled by her revival, they say she's fine. "I know God has something in store for me, another purpose,"she said. "I don't know what it is, but I'm sure he'll tell me."

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Emily Vinette and Michaela Murphy, both 26 have been friends ever since meeting in fifth grade in Syracuse, N.Y. They played together, watched boys, and often finished each other's sentences. Then, in January, Vinette's kidneys began failing; added to a waiting list four years long, she began looking for a donor herself. It turned out that Murphy--whose own mother had died while waiting for a liver transplant in 2000-was a match. In a successful surgery last month, Murphy donated a kidney to Vinette, and both are doing fine. "I knew right away I would do whatever was needed," said Murphy.