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Happy News Year
Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: 2019/01 - Winter
While treating my growling stomach to a cheer-me-up lunch at a favorite cafe, I checked my cell phone to satisfy another hunger: a longing for a plateful of good news. Lately, I’ve been grateful for an ant-sized crumb of it.
As I scrolled down the news reports I read about a school that won a national competition for Kindness. Reporters interviewed students who spoke eloquently about The Golden Rule, something I thought was tarnished beyond recognition. As a former teacher, I teared-up, and dabbed my cheeks with my napkin lest someone see my face melting.
The next report: a German hiker decided to walk America’s Pacific Coastline . . . alone. She was fed up with humankind, particularly in Germany. She ignored another hiker who told her to wait a few days as a winter storm was coming inland. She would have died had the other hiker not rounded up a search party and saved her. Her experience was life-altering, her faith in humankind restored.
There were other heart-warming stories. After reading them I was blubbering again. The waiter arrived and stared at me while trying not to stare at me. I smiled and said, “Don’t worry. I’m happy. There’re still some good people in the world.”
And so it is with Highlands for, as Ran Shaffner says in his book, “Heart of the Blue Ridge,” — “If there is one salient trait that stands out in the character of Highlands as most representative of its people, it is volunteerism.”
He continues, “Since the days of the town’s founding, the number of Highlanders who have served long hours without pay as trustees and directors on corporate boards and service organizations is legion.”
As our planet spits out its madness, let’s not give madness the stage it needs to thrive. Instead, focus on the miracles, from tiny ant-crumb joys to plates brimming with healthful goodness. Highlanders will do as they’ve always done: nourish the region with food, love, care, and education for the needy.
Read more about the good folks atop the Plateau in “Heart of the Blue Ridge.” Visit highlandshistory.com, or The Highlands Historical Museum, 524 North Fourth Street, in season. Visit [email protected] email for an appointment
during winter months.
