On (another) lighter note (or five)…

ROCK THE BABY

April 19, 2023: Murphy really wanted to be a dad. Like, really wanted to be one. The bald eagle, who lives at the World Bird Sanctuary in Montana, figured he’d sit atop this egg to incubate it and patiently await the day it would crack open to reveal his very own squeaking baby chick. Except, well… it was a rock. The keepers “did not have the heart” to break it to Murphy that the rock would not hatch, as The New York Times ($) tells it, nor take his little egg-rock away as he fussed paternally over it. They had put a sign up to mollify concerned onlookers that he was fine, not in distress per se, but admittedly probably a little forlorn. That’s when fate stepped (flew?) in. A teeny orphaned eaglet arrived at the sanctuary earlier this month, with a soft grey plumage and a needy temperament. The little guy had fallen from a tree during a storm, and had no-one.

Initially the keepers were a little worried. After all, Murphy had only ever looked after a rock. And it’s not like they hadn’t given him a shot at a family. They’d introduced him to a couple of eagle bachelorettes, but Murphy wasn’t interested (perhaps another male would’ve done the trick?). Oh heck, they decided, let’s give him a shot at fatherhood. And he’s doing great! He’s “responding to the chick’s peeps, and protecting it”, the paper reports. Everyone was sure when Murphy and the eaglet were given dinner one evening. Murphy, who got a large fish, tore his to pieces to offer it to the eaglet — even though the eaglet had its own smaller meal already. It’s clear, sanctuary boss Dawn said, that Murphy was “doing very well learning how to be a first-time dad”.

Hoping you feel cared for today.

SAX APPEAL

April 5, 2023: Some years back, former Australian diplomat Jeremy Dicker was studying at Sydney University and playing the saxophone for a bit of extra cash. Whistling on his way home from his gigs, Dicker would often run into a friendly local on the street he’ll call Bill. Bill was a “classic ’80s rocker like Bill Nighy in Love Actually“, he recalls, “a lost but kind soul”. They’d bond over a shared love of music and always end their chats with Bill insisting they should jam together. One night, Bill came busting up to Dicker about a gig he’d secured for them. Dicker’s scepticism was overridden by Bill’s insistence the pay was $1,000 — each. So Dicker dutifully jotted down the rehearsal time and date, and when he turned up with his sax, he met the rest of the band — rough old codgers just like Bill, all promised a grand each. Who was this cashed-up booker, a mystified Dicker asked? Russell Crowe, they responded nonchalantly.

Dicker had misgivings, but no-one batted an eyelid, so he “shut up and kept playing”. When he turned up for the gig — at Hordern Pavilion, no less — he started to wonder if they really were telling the truth about Rusty. As the band walked on stage, Dicker realised a swish black-tie crowd was watching on, jam-packed with the crème de la crème of Australia’s celebrities and media. It turned out to be the premiere of Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man, a flick about a boxer. When Crowe took to the microphone, he spoke of the power of second chances and the film’s message of triumph in tough times. That’s when Crowe asked for a special round of applause “…for tonight’s band, made up entirely” — pointing directly at Dicker — “of homeless men!” Wait, what?! Dicker says he wasn’t really worried by the slight mischaracterisation. Bill and the guys in the band were legends, he says, and it’s still the “coolest gig I’ll ever do”.

Hoping you can see through the labels today too.

POSTER BOY

April 27, 2023: An 11-year-old boy named Brock Keena was staring out the window on a bus to Newcastle when an irate grown-up barrelled up to the driver. The woman was yelling to the high heavens about someone purportedly “smoking” on the bus, as Yahoo tells it, and bus driver Sanjay Patel tried to placate the woman as best he could while keeping his eyes on the road. She stormed off the bus at the next stop, swerving around to yell “Why don’t you go back to where you came from, Africa!” before departing the scene. Patel was stung. This sort of thing is hurtful and upsetting, he told 2GB. At his stop, Brock walked up to the driver. “You shouldn’t be treated that way,” he told Patel. “I hope you’re okay.” Watch it here.

Patel was touched by Brock’s “beautiful words”, shaking his hand gratefully before the kid alighted the bus. “I felt like he applied some first aid to my hurt,” he said. After he recounted the story to his managers, they used CCTV to track down Brock’s school to report the good deed. When the principal called Brock’s mum, Melissa, she braced, but she was quickly “blown away” by the story. Brock hadn’t mentioned a thing. Parents often wonder if they’re doing an okay job, Melissa said, but hearing about her son’s random act of kindness made her think “maybe we’re not doing so bad after all”. The single mum, who said money is a bit tight, set up a GoFundMe to reward Brock with a new gaming set-up. As for Patel, he visited the school with some chocolates to say thanks. His takeaway? “Be like Brock.”

Hope you can be like Brock today.

STOLEN PLEASURES

June 6, 2023: The brazen thief peered through a Vancouver bakery window through his orange sunglasses and spied his prize. Sizing up the pastel-pink door of Sweet Something, he dropped a shoulder and shoved himself into the glass panel, the night eerily still around him. The door remained unbothered, so he gave it a kick, spraying glass all over the jaunty black and white tile inside. Stepping in, he grabbed his bounty — six delicious cupcakes. Success! But he looked around at the glass littering the floor and felt a bit sheepish. It’s just bad manners, he thought, fairly impolite stuff by any measure. So the thief grabbed a nearby mop and bucket and began cleaning up the glass the best that a mop can manage, as the CCTV footage showed.

It’s a “very Canadian break-in”, owner Emma Irvine told CNN, describing him as “really respectful”. It seems the cupcake thief was overcome with remorse for his sweet tooth because he rang the bakery a couple of days later and ’fessed up. He “profusely apologised”, Irvine told CBC, adding he seemed “really sincere”. Please, he begged her, let me pay for the door and the cost of the cupcakes (police said they were allegedly valued at $30). Irvine could’ve yelled at him, but she did something pretty powerful instead: she chose to see the cupcake break-in as the ultimate compliment, and forgave him. “I have a little bit of a soft spot in my heart for this guy,” she admitted. She asked the cops not to bother pressing charges, and promptly released a new cupcake — the “Crime of Passion” — topped with a mini pair of edible orange sunglasses.

Hope you can forgive someone today.

DOG DAY MORNING

July 12, 2023: Robert Moore wanted one thing for his 100th birthday: to pat as many dogs as possible. When the American told his daughter Alison about his wishes, she wasn’t surprised. He just “love, love, loves dogs”, she told The Washington Post ($). It’s gotta be easier than rounding up a whole lot of party-going friends of his, many of whom are in the grave or have well and truly left their party days behind them. So Alison sat down and opened Nextdoor, a neighbourhood networking site, and Facebook. She typed an earnest post explaining her elderly dad would be sitting outside her home at a table beneath a birthday banner, with treats for humans (choc-chip bikkies) and treats for dogs (dry bones) on a table. If anyone had a dog in need of a pat that day, she said, they were very welcome to come on down.

It was 11am on Robert’s 100th turn around the sun, and more than 200 doggies appeared — presumably on the horizon like some sort of mini doggo stampede. All shapes and sizes dutifully lined up, wagging their tails expectantly and sniffing each other’s bottoms courteously. Alison said she was shocked — she figured there’d be 20, 30 tops. But Robert, who’d spent 25 years working as the head of science and arts at the San José State University, evidently had a reputation that preceded him. He was so touched and overwhelmed by the turnout, patting endless dogs, cracking jokes with local kids, and laughing. Along with their dogs, people had brought cupcakes, birthday cards, flowers and posters. “Everyone just couldn’t stop smiling,” granddaughter Caroline said. Except for Alison, who also cried a bit. “Strangers did this for my dad,” she said.

Hoping you believe in the good in the world today.