In 2004 ,when my daughter Becky was ten , she and my husband ,Joe, were united in their desire for a dog . As for me , I shared none of their canine lust.

But why , they pleaded. “Because I don't have time to take care of a dog.” But we'll do it. ” Really? You're going to walk the dog? Feed the dog? Bathe the dog?” Yes, yes , and yes .”I don't believe you .” We will . We promise.

They didn't . From day two (everyone wanted to walk the cute puppy that first day ) , neither thought to walk the dog . While I was slow to accept that I would be the one to keep track of her shots , to schedule her vet appointments , to feed and clean her , Misty knew this on day one . As she looked up at the three new humans in her life (small, medium, and large) , she calculated ,”The medium one is the sucker in the pack .”

Quickly, she and I developed something very similar to a Vulcan mind meld (心灵融合) . She'd look at me with those sad brown eyes of hers , beam her need , and then wait , trusting I would understand — which , strangely , I almost always did . In no time , she became my feet as I read , and splaying across my stomach as I watched television .

Even so , part of me continued to resent walking duty .Joe and Becky had promised. Not fair , I'd balk (不心甘情愿地做) silently as she and I walked . “Not fair , ” I' d loudly remind anyone within earshot upon our return home .

       Then one day — January 1, 2007 , to be exact — my husband ‘ s doctor uttered an unthinkable word : leukemia ( 白血病) .With that , I spent eight to ten hours a day with Joe in the hospital , doing anything and everything I could to ease his discomfort. During those six months of hospitalizations, Becky, 12 at the time, adjusted to other adults being in the house when she returned from school. My work colleagues adjusted to my taking off at a moment's notice for medical emergencies. Every part of my life changed; no part of my old routine remained.

      Save one: Misty still needed walking. At the beginning, when friends offered to take her

through her paces, I declined because I knew they had their own households to deal with.

      As the months went by，I began to realize that I actually wanted to walk Misty. The walk in the morning before I headed to the hospital was a quiet, peaceful time to gather my thoughts or to just be before the day's medical drama unfolded. The evening walk was a time to shake off the day's upsets and let the worry tracks in my head go to white noise.

      When serious illness visits your household, it's , not just your daily routine and your assumptions about the future that are no longer familiar. Pretty much everyone you acts differently.

Not Misty. Take her for a walk, and she had no interest in Joe's blood counts or 'one marrow test results. On the street or in the park, she had only one thing on her mind: squirrels! She Was so joyous that even on the worst days, she could make me smile. On a daily basis she reminded me that life goes on.

      After Joe died in 2009，Misty slept on his pillow.

I'm grateful一to a point. The truth is, after years of balking, I've come to enjoy m' walks with Misty. As I watch her chase after a squirrel, throwing her whole being into the here-and-now of an exercise that has never once ended in victory, she reminds me, too, that no matter how harsh the present or unpredictable the future , there's almost always some measure of joy to be extracted from the moment.

    One morning more than thirty years ago, I entered the Track Kitchen, a restaurant where everyone from the humblest(卑微的) to the most powerful came for breakfast. I noticed an empty chair next to an elderly, unshaven man, who looked somewhat disheveled. He was wearing a worn-out hat and was alone. I asked if I might join him. He agreed quietly and I sat down to have my breakfast.

    We cautiously began a conversation and spoke about a wide range of things. We never introduced ourselves. I was concerned that he might have no money and not be able to afford something to eat. So as I rose to go back to the counter and buy a second cup of coffee, I asked,

    "May I get you something?"

    "A coffee would be nice."

    Then I bought him a cup of coffee. We talked more, and he accepted another cup of coffee. Finally, I rose to leave, wished him well, and headed for the exit. At the door I met one of my friends. He asked,

    "How did you get to know Mr. Galbreath?"

    "Who?"

    "The man you were sitting with. He is chairman of the Board of Churchill Downs."

    I could hardly believe it. I was buying, offering a free breakfast, and feeling pity for one of the world's richest and most powerful men!

    My few minutes with Mr. Galbreath changed my life. Now I try to treat everyone with respect, no matter who I think they are, and no matter another human being with kindness and sincerity.

    1990 was a significant year in world events. In February, Nelson Mandela was set free after 27 years in prison. In October, East and West Germany became one country again. Then at the end of 1990, the World Wide Web was born. For this final event we have one man to thank, Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the Web.

    Berners-Lee was born on June 8, 1955 in London, England. His parents, both computer designers, encouraged him to think and work creatively as he grew up. He was an excellent student and naturally took an interest in computers and science.

    After graduating from Oxford University, Tim went to work at a science research center in Switzerland. There he developed some of the different systems that would later become the Web. The first was HTML, the computer language used to make web pages. The second was an address system that let computers anywhere find each other and send and receive information. In 1990, while still at the science center in Switzerland, he put them together to make the first Internet browser. It could run on any computer and allowed people to share their information with the rest of the world.

    Tim knew that the more people used the Web, the more useful it would be. He wasn't interested in money but knowledge, so he gave out his invention for free to anyone who was interested. Many were interested and the growth of the Internet began.

    Today Tim works as a professor at the MIT in America, researching new and interesting ways to use the Web. He has received many awards from governments and organizations for his efforts. He is still not very interested in money. That is why he is so admired by his students and workmates. It may also be one of the reasons why few people outside the world of technology know his name.

    Hiking is a great way to get active and reduce stress while you are exploring the city. Visit our page to find some of the best free walking tours across New York City.

Community Days at Conference House Park

Wednesday, September 19, 2018 12:00p.m.—2:00p.m.

    Enjoy new gardens at the Visitor Center. Explore and help repair the three self-designed gardens: vegetable, native plant, and sculpture. Experience kids crafts，adult art programs, Tai Chi and more in this lovely setting.

    Position: Conference House Park, 298 Satterlee Street, Staten Island

    Event Organizer: Conference House Park

    Phone Number: (718)227-1463

    Contact Email: john.kilcullen@parks .nyc.qov

    Greenbelt on the Go

Tuesday, August 14, 2018 10:00a.m.—11:30a.m.

    Join us for relaxing walks through our parks. Enjoy the pretty views of them, as we point out a few of the distinct features that make each park special. The length of each hike will be determined by the pace of the group. Registration is required. To register, please email naturecenter@sigreenbelt.org before August 14.

    Position: Greenbelt Nature Center in Blood Root Valley, 700 Rockland Avenue at Brielle Avenue Staten Island

    Event Organizer: Staten Island Greenbelt Conservancy, Greenbelt Environmental Education Department

    Phone Number: (718)351-3450

    Contact Email: naturecenter@sigreenbelt.org

    Adult Afternoon Hikes

Wednesday, October 10, 2018 1:30p.m.—3:00p.m.

    Get familiar with the Greenbelt and local parks by hiking with other adults! You're encouraged to bring small meals and drinks for the break time.

    Position: Greenbelt Nature Center in Blood Root Valley, 700 Rockland Avenue at Brielle Avenue Staten Island

    Event Organizer: Staten Island Greenbelt Conservancy, Greenbelt Environmental Education Department

    Phone Number: (718)351-3450

    Contact Email: naturecenter@sigreenbelt.org

    The South Pole at Wards Point

Thursday, November 15, 2018 7:00a.m.—7:00p.m.

    The three miles of nearby natural shoreline are a sandy beach. Shells, rocks, and stones of every shape and size can be found here. Not to be missed are the park's other attractions: acres of woodland, four galleries, and five historic houses!

Position: Conference House Park Visitor Center in Conference House Park, 298 Satterlee Street, Staten Island

    Event Organizer: Conference House Park

Contact Email: john.kilcullen@parks.nyc.qov

L. Bean Quad backpack

If you need a backpack that can carry large and small objects and is comfortable to wear, this is the backpack for you. The reasonable price and customers' 100% satisfaction makes this a great buy any way you look at it. While it's not the most beautiful backpack on the planet, it does look nice at first sight.

Kanken 15" backpack

This Kanken bag is a great choice for school kids of grade one to six or adults with narrow shoulders. Weighing under 450g, it's easy and comfortable to carry this bag around. The simple design with a lot of eve-catching colors may have you fall in love with it at once.

Timbuk2 Command backpack

If you want to safely carry your laptop and look stylish, the Timbuk2 Command backpack is the one for you. The soft back is made for a comfortable wearing experience. The clean coloring and lines of the bag may make you more "grown-up".

Amazon Basics backpack

With a lowest price among all these backpacks, the Amazon Basics backpack is a great choice for college students on a tight budget. There are tons of storage choices in this backpack, so it's easy to forget exactly where you placed a certain object. It is a basic black backpack with a few designs and is never going to appear on a fashion T stage.

"Having the world at our fingertips" is a metaphor often used when we put our hands on information technology, like smartphones and computers. This is a good metaphor. But what is much better is how we use our hands to make things done.

Put one hand flat on a surface, palm down, and you might be able to make out the outline of 14 short bones in your thumb and fingers, in addition to 5 longer ones in your palm that are jointed to your wrist. These bones give each hand its rigid, knuckled structure. Together they're critical components of the anatomical （解剖的） architecture that allows your hand to move. At each of your fingertips there's an ever-growing, translucent plate of fibrous protein, otherwise known as a nail. Although they're nice for decoration, your nails protect and enhance your sensitivity to touch, too.

Imagine squeezing a piece of paper between your thumb and index finger, for example. We use this type of forceful pad-to-pad precision grasping without thinking about it, and literally in no time. Yet it was a breakthrough in human evolution. Other primates （灵长目动物） exhibit some kinds of precision grasps in the handling and use of objects, but not with the kind of efficiency that our hand does.

With a unique combination of traits, the human hand shaped history. No question, stone tools couldn't have become a keystone of human technology without hands that could do the job, along with a nervous （神经的） system that could regulate and coordinate the necessary signals. Even for those who have never attempted to make a spear tip or arrowhead from a rock, it's obvious that it would require strong grasps, constant rotation and repositioning, careful strikes with another hard object. And even for those who have done so, it can be a bloody business.

Of course, the most common object that people touch nowadays is a screen. And the tap-tap-tap movement of our fingers is a unique human ability, as no other primate can move their fingers as rapidly and independently as we do. Here again, we can thank the extraordinary human brain given that normal finger tapping requires the functional integrity of different parts of our central nervous system.