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…than seeing pure joy on the faces of two young girls as they collect their very first farm eggs.
a kindness movement
You see the darndest things on the streets of New York, and almost every day you’ll witness something special. When we came upon the One Million Acts of Kindness bus on CPW near the Museum of Natural History, we met Bob. Parked outside with his crazy-looking bus, spreading kindness on the streets of Manhattan — not to mention the thousands of miles he’s logged on his bike bringing a message of hope and love to the streets while celebrating police, firefighter and military heroes.
“Imagine… if we simply hoped for the best toward every person we come in contact with during the day. If each one of us, day by day, shared acts of kindness with those we know and those we don’t know…how would the world change? How would YOU change? How far would our kindness spread?”
– Bob
Learn more about Bob, his dog Bogart, and the 4,000 Mile Bicycle Ride for Heroes at onemillionactsofkindess.org.
‘wabbit season’
Each day our dogs enjoy stalking the many rabbits that have taken up residence on the farm. Last night Lola roused three baby bunnies from their nest. We heard a loud “squeak!” then a mad chase ensued with three ecstatic Great Danes in pursuit. One little bunny didn’t make it, but two escaped without harm. So naturally I asked Mike if we could keep one. And naturally he said no.
if chairs could smile
Remember these? If you were a child in the ’70s, chances are you or one of your friends had a Butterfly Chair in the house. I remember ours so well….Mom and Dad kept them in the back gravel 
driveway and we’d sit out there on summer evenings, batting away mosquitoes, chattering about the day, waiting for it to get almost dark so we could go play Capture the Flag at the Werners across the street. Fast forward to 2012. As the Brooks kids prepared for Mom’s estate sale this past spring, Mike and I were getting ready to leave her house when we took notice of the old chair frames still sitting there in the rocky driveway — lonely and rusted from years of neglect, ivy literally growing up over them — all the family noise and laughter now long gone. On impulse,we grabbed the three heavy iron chairs, hoisted them onto the moving truck and carried them off to Alabama where Mike has been cleaning, sanding and painting them ever since. Then we found a great source, Circa50, which has an in-house seamstress who makes covers for these old classics. So we promptly measured each chair (each one had a different measurement; go figure), put in our order and waited. The custom covers arrived recently and now the old chairs are back in action — waiting for folks to gather round and (we believe anyway) enjoying the sounds of laughter, and life, again.
Before.
After!
not the country (but just as great)
If you haven’t seen Humans of New York, stop working or whatever you’re doing right now and have a look. This blog on tumblr was started by Brandon Stanton in 2010 with the idea of creating a photographic census of New York City, “one street portrait at a time.” Humans of New York (or HONY, as insiders like to say) gives folks around the world glimpses into the inhabitants, spirit and daily life of one of the world’s greatest cities. Thanks to Nasreen, our 14-year-old niece (and tumblr blogger) for sharing this with us….so happy to be sharing NYC with you this week!
Photos by Brandon Stanton
