Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2021 i Reader's Digest

DAVID YELLEN AND I became unlikely friends in college despite our differences: stocky vs. lanky, Jersey vs. California, Jewish vs. Catholic, smart and sober vs. less so. (FYI, I’m the latter.) David has a knack for connecting across divides. He married an African American woman from South Dakota. He’s still close with his family’s Italian foreign exchange student from his youth. He’s got friendships with people of all types from all over because he says what he means—and no more—and he does it with a twinkle in his eye and a delighted laugh. A decade ago, he told me a story that I couldn’t get out of my mind. I won’t rehash it here because it appears on page 38, marking the anniversary of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s…

FROM THE WASHINGTON POST THE E-MAIL REQUEST came in to Ekiben restaurant in Baltimore late on a Thursday afternoon in March: tempura broccoli topped with fresh herbs, diced onion, and fermented cucumber vinegar—with a twist. The man who sent the e-mail didn’t actually want the food itself. He was writing on behalf of his motherin-law, who adored the dish. He went on to explain that she was now in the final stages of lung cancer at her home in Vermont and that he was hoping to get the recipe to make it for her there. Steve Chu, one of the Asian fusion restaurant’s co-owners, read the e-mail and quickly replied with an alternative suggestion. “Thanks for reaching out,” he wrote. “We’d like to meet you in Vermont and make it…

1. Pour some peppermint tea According to a study published in the North American Journal of Psychology, sniffing peppermint helped reduce fatigue while driving. Researchers have also found that those who drink peppermint tea are more alert and complete mental tasks faster. 2. Open the blinds Exposing yourself to natural sunlight, especially right when you wake up in the morning, can help suppress melatonin, the chemical in your body that makes you sleepy. 3. Take a few deep breaths When you’re stressed, it’s natural to breathe a little bit shallower, which can decrease the amount of oxygen that reaches cells. To counteract that, try breathing in through your nose for four seconds, holding your breath for four seconds, and then slowly exhaling for four seconds. 4. Chew a piece of…

THIS MAY BE one of the most virtually viewed spots on the planet; Microsoft turned a photo of it into a popular screen saver image in its ubiquitous Windows OS. Viewing it in person is a much rarer feat. These calcified sand dunes—“baroque bands of red, pink, yellow, and white Navajo sandstone arcing precipitously up, down, and around ancient stone chutes,” as one visitor described it— have been around for 190 million years, but to protect it from a stampede of tourists, the Bureau of Land Management lets only 64 lottery winners a day on-site. Where is this? (Answer on PAGE 119.) A Little Grand Canyon, Texas B The Wave, Arizona C Painted Desert, New Mexico D Valley of Fire, Nevada…

FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES She had been drifting in the cold Pacific water for a night and most of a day. Kept afloat by her orange life jacket, nine-year-old Desireé Rodriguez had watched helplessly as one family member after another let go of life. Just as she, too, began to give up, the skipper of a fishing boat spotted her bobbing in the water. Within minutes, the boat’s first officer leaped in and grabbed Desireé, pulling her back toward the boat—and toward life. That was 35 years ago, and the last time the rescuers and the girl saw one another. Until this year. May 18, 1986, was the kind of beautiful, sunny day that regularly brought the Rodriguez family to California’s Catalina Island for some fishing on their 28-foot…

While out walking with my son, a doctor, I fell and cut my hand. Quickly realizing that the injury would require sutures, he voice-texted his nurse: “My mom has a bad cut. I’m on the way to the office to sew her up.” His “smart” phone transcribed the last part of his message: “I am on the way to the office to sober up.” —TERRY KELLEN Pensacola, Florida My professor once went to hear French philosopher Jacques Derrida speak. The entire talk was about cows; everyone was flummoxed but listened carefully and took notes about … cows. There was a short break, and when Derrida came back, he announced, “I’m told it is pronounced ‘chaos.’ ” —@PMGENTRY The late Bobby Brown had enviable careers both as a baseball player in…

“Sorry, we’re running a little behind.” When my five-year- old came home from his very first day in kindergarten, I excitedly asked, “So how was your first day of school?” Dropping his backpack, he said, “Well, I’ll tell you one thing: I am never going back to that place.” —KAY MARSKE Bettendorf, Iowa I was new to the South when I stopped off at a fast-food restaurant. When my order arrived, I pointed out that the dressing on the salad was orange rather than the ranch I had asked for. “Oh, sorry, hon,” the clerk replied. “You said ranch. I thought you said Franch.” —DEBRA GRIZZLE Royston, Georgia Mom, who is 94 and an avid reader, was perusing a list of new books from the public library when she noted…

On the Plus Side The university where I teach has a policy that grades ending in 8 or 9 receive a “+” designation (78 is a C+, 89 is a B+, etc.). A student received his final grade and was adamant that I left off the plus sign. I looked up the grade. The kid got a 58. I told him he had failed the course. “I know,” he said. “But I earned an F+, not an F.” “You want me to change this to an F+?” I asked. He said yes and left happy when I agreed. -David Barman NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA The Mother of All Broken Records I said to my daughter on the phone, “Your grandmother is getting more forgetful and more repetitive every day. If…

While you may be extra careful about applying—and reapplying—sunscreen, chances are you’re missing a very vulnerable spot: your eyelids. Dermatologists say that up to 10 percent of all skin cancers occur there, with the lower eyelid the more susceptible one. For the best protection, use a gentle>sunscreen designed to not irritate the eyes and wear sunglasses, which will also protect your eyes from exposure that might later cause cataracts.…

Also Serving Rocky Road Ice Cream After a full year of street closures and incessant jackhammering, Natalie Naquin Harvey had had enough of the never-ending roadwork on her New Orleans street. So Harvey found a (bitter)sweet way to get even: She threw a birthday party for the repair, complete with party hats, balloons, and, of course, a cake, which she decorated with construction equipment, a Road Closed sign, and a street in shambles—much like the scene outside her front door. “Happy first birthday to our street construction!” she posted on Facebook beneath a photo of her posing beside a construction excavator. “It was one year ago this week when they first began to rip up our street. One year later, half the street is impassable—just last week, we had a…

The rock hills of Hueco Tanks rise dramatically above the scrubby Chihuahuan Desert in West Texas, four masses of weathered, craggy rock that have long been a climbing paradise. Doug April was just finishing a six-month stint as a camp host at Hueco Tanks State Park, living by himself in an RV. The lanky 46-year-old was divorced with three kids, the youngest in junior high. He had served two tours of duty in Iraq, where he saw plenty that was hard to forget. Through it all, climbing had been a refuge. Out on the rock, he could turn off his buzzing mind and just focus on what was in front of him. Now, in May 2015, that respite was coming to an end. April had left the Army three weeks…

Any time we use the word if, we put doubt on whatever comes next.—Michael Strahan, TALK SHOW HOST I hate when people press the elevator or crosswalk button right after me. You think you press buttons better than I do?—Issa Rae, ACTOR When you’re young, you’re encouraged to try new things. Why not say yes at any age? Why creatively kill yourself off?—Mary Steenburgen, ACTOR There’s no them. This is what everybody does: make a distinction about them. It’s just us.—Ken Burns, FILMMAKER Lazy people work the hardest to make time to make themselves happy just lying on the sofa, eating chocolate, and reading novels.—Nigella Lawson, FOOD WRITER…

SOME PEOPLE CAN’T WAIT for the lovely colors, cooler weather, and cozy sweaters of autumn. In fact, fall is Americans’ favorite time, the season of choice for about 30 percent of us, according to a recent YouGov poll. But for a minority of others, the transition from summer creates worry, fear, and worse. We often hear about the short, cold days of winter causing what is known as seasonal affective disorder. But according to Carrie Landin, a psychologist with the University of Colorado Health Integrative Medicine Center, a significant number of people actually experience autumn anxiety. For some people, autumn anxiety is triggered by environmental factors similar to what happens in winter: Decreases in daylight touch off chemical changes in the brain. “Less daylight leads to lower levels of serotonin,…

FROM BROADVIEW I’m ten years old, away at my first sleepover camp. The rest of the girls in my cabin are trying to put together a skit for the camp’s variety show, and I can see that it isn’t going to come together the way they imagine. I have a sixth sense about these things, as if I’m on the outside looking in when I’m supposed to be part of something. I want to speak up and tell them how to fix it, but I’ve learned that being a know-it-all does not make me popular. There is something about me that most people consider “different.” I don’t enjoy sitcoms or skip rope the way other girls my age do. I’m not comfortable hugging friends, but I do love listening to…

“Could we move the pieces representing ourselves a little farther away from the battle?” One of our jet fighters crashed in a sandstorm outside of Twentynine Palms Marine Base in California. Thankfully, no one was injured. I was assigned to help clean up the site by bagging the debris. My greatest challenge was simply getting the plastic bags opened amid all that wind. But our sergeant major offered me some advice. “Tuttle,” he said, “the trick is to be smarter than the bag.” —DON TUTTLE Mechanicsville, Virginia During an ROTC drill in college, our sergeant took umbrage with a fellow student’s choice of footwear. “Those are the worst shoes that I have ever seen!” the sergeant shouted. After a few more choice, unprintable words, he demanded of the student, “Now,…

WHERE OH WHERE? (See page 28.) B. The Wave, in Arizona BRAIN GAMES (See pages 114-115.) Quick Crossword ACROSS 1. MOREL 7. CREMINI 8. PORTO BELLO 9. ENOKI 10. OYSTER DOWN 2. REISHI 3. PORCINI 4. SHIITAKE 5. HEDGEHOG 6. BUTTON Trains Route A, which will take 70 minutes. (Route B will take 75 minutes, and Route C will take 78.) Word Ladder Note, rote, rate, rare, care, card Odd One Out D, the only group without an empty symbol Duty Calls Sophie’s dad did. There are ten multiples of three and ten prime numbers between zero and 30. So, in a month with 30 days, he gets ten calls either way. But in a month with 31 days, Sophie now calls an 11th time, on the 31st, since 31…