Winslow Homer was a famous American painter. Since Art History class in college, I had always admired his works and I was lucky to see a large exhibition of his works when I was in my early 30s.It was at this event that I bought a print of his painting, “Snap the Whip”. It always hung in my classroom until I retired from teaching.

    I thought it truly captured the freedom and fun of childhood. In the painting, a group of young boys are playing a game arm in arm on grass ground in front of a farm house. They are jumping and laughing wildly with great joy. One of the boys is falling down to the ground. They are not even wearing shoes!

    During my last year of teaching, there was a young woman in her first year of teaching right next door to me and we got to be good friends. She had been an art student before taking up education. Her eyes were drawn immediately to this print when she entered my room. So on my last day of teaching, after the students had left, I took the painting off the wall and walked next door and gave it to her.

    She was really surprised, but very glad to have it. I was delighted that she liked it and all the students she would have would treasure it as much as I had. We found the perfect place for it on one of her walls and hung it together. I was happy that she brought back this wonderful memory for me.

    Have you ever noticed tiny raised areas on the branches of a tree? These may have been insects. These small insects feed on tree sap (汁液). Insects on urban trees are notably more abundant than those on rural trees. As a result, urban trees suffer from heavy infestations (害虫横行), and are often unhealthy or die. To protect and restore urban trees' health, we need to determine the factors that make these tree pests more successful in urban habitats.

    Living organisms interact closely with their environment. The warmer, more drought-stressed trees harbor more successful pests than cooler, less drought-stressed trees. As cities and natural habitats become hotter and drier, damaging insects will become more abundant on urban trees.

    Trees within urban forests are valuable economically and for the environmental sustainability (可持续性) of the region. More than half of the world's population lives in cities. Across the globe, people are moving into cities at a faster rate than ever. Rapid growth may turn cities into places with harder conditions. Although cities are primarily made of buildings, roads, parking lots, and vehicles, there are still plants in them. The trees within a city are referred to as the urban forest. Urban forests offer very big benefits to human and environmental health. They improve air and water quality, provide habitat for wildlife, cool down temperatures and beautify our environment. They make cities livable.

    However, being a city tree is not easy. Heat released by human activities is trapped in cities. As a result, temperatures in urban areas are often warmer than their surrounding rural areas. We call this urban warming or the urban heat island effect. Urban habitats are mostly made of surfaces of asphalt (沥青) and concrete. These surfaces reduce the amount of rainwater that reaches tree roots. As a result, urban forests may suffer, which can negatively affect people and the environment.

    What can we do to restore urban forests? Regular irrigation when possible may help keep pest populations under control. Planting tree species that are suitable to handle heat and drought stress would also reduce the occurrence of insect pest outbreaks.

Show Biz Summer 2018

Location: Rosewood Center for Family Arts

Important Information:

* Tuition paid on the first day of class. No tuition refunds（退款）.

* DCT reserves the right to cancel any class; refunds made for cancelation.

* Please accompany students the first day of class.

* Registration begins one-half hour before class time.

How To Register:

* Mail: fill out the form in this brochure.

* Be sure to list the class and group that you want.

Drama Days: $ 175

Entering Grades:

Group A: 1st—2nd; Group B: 3rd—5th.

Time: June 2—June 6

* Create the situations and scenes.

* Showtime—invite family and friends to your Friday Showcase!

* Bring a sack lunch and drink each day!

Laugh Out Loud: $ 175

Entering Grade: 5th

Time: June 23—June 27

* Tell a joke! Learn why old jokes can be the best!

* Work with your class to put on a Comedy Show for family and friends!

Acting—Just Acting: $ 225

Entering Grades: Group A: 1st—2^nd; Group B: 3rd—4th

Time: August 4—August 8

* Start with the characters: Who are you? Be the Star of your Dreams.

* Work with your class to create the plot.

Summer Scenes: $ 225

Entering Grades: 5th—6th

Time: August 11—August 15

* Do you want to be an actor?

* Improve your skills with instructions from professional actors & directors.

    Girls who lack confidence in school have a new champion. She is only 10 years old. Alice Tapper, a fifth - grader says, that her goal is to encourage girls of all ages to “be more confident in raising their hands”. Alice cared so much about the issue (问题) that she helped create a Girl Scout badge (徽章).

    The pink badge—Alice chose her favorite color—shows three hands reaching for the sky. It says, “Be brave. Raise your hand.”

    Alice's idea came during a fourth - grade field trip to Jamestown, Virginia. She found that boys raised their hands to answer questions even though they weren't sure of the answers. The girls just listened quietly.

    “Girls are afraid to raise their hands because they get shy. They have to be 90 percent sure, while boys just raise their hands and say, 'I know it,'” Alice said during a recent interview. She added that girls should have confidence, step up, and become leaders by raising their hands for women are equal to men.

    Alice's “Raise Your Hand” badge has become wildly popular, and not just in the United States. “People in Japan and China want to use the badge,” she said. “We sold out the badge quickly, but we're making more.”

    Alice wants to be a teacher when she grows up. But first, she wants to see a revolution in confidence for girls of all ages. She knows that won't happen overnight. “ It takes time,” Alice said, “but I can speed up the process.”

Do you like spicy food?

    What's your opinion on spicy food? Some people cannot handle even the smallest amount of chili-red pepper-in their dinner while others can't get enough of it.

    Scientists have long been puzzled by why some people love chili while others loathe it. Plenty of research has been done on the subject, dating as far back as the 1970s. Previous results showed that a love of chili is related to childhood experiences, and cultural influences affect our taste buds too. But the latest study has found that a person's love of spicy food may be linked to his or her personality more than anything else, CBC News reported.

    "We have always assumed that liking drives intake-we eat what we like and we like what we eat. But no one has actually directly bothered to connect these personality traits with intake of chili peppers,"said Professor John Hayes from Pennsylvania State University, who led the study.

    But before you look at the study, you should first know that "spicy" is not a taste, unlike sour, sweet, bitter and salty. It is, in fact, a burning sensation that you feel on the surface of your tongue. This got scientists thinking that maybe a love of spicy food is brought about by people's longing for thrill, something they usually get from watching action movies or riding a roller coaster.

    In the study, 97 participants, both male and female, were asked to fill out questionnaires about certain traits of their personality, for example, whether they like new experiences or tend to avoid risks. They were then given a glass of water with capsaicin, the plant chemical that makes a chili burn, mixed into it.

    By comparing the answers to the questionnaire and what participants said they felt about the spicy water, researchers found that those who tended to enjoy action movies or take risks were about six times more likely to enjoy the spicy water.

    Interestingly, we used to believe that the reason some people can withstand spicy food is that their tongues have become less sensitive to it. However, this latest study has found otherwise. "It's not that it doesn't burn as badly, it's that you actually learn to like the burn," Hayes explained.

    Hipster Greenport: 4 places to eat, shop and visit

    Greenport may date back to the 1630s, but it's feeling pretty of-the-moment right now. Here are four places that embody the old-meets-new energy of the village:

    Claudio's

    If you've been to Greenport, you can't miss Claudio's — it's where generations of Long Islanders have made a tradition of eating, whether inside the main restaurant or at the floating dock-bar. The new owners have added fresh elements: Baccano Pizza by Nino, which offers a variety of slices and pies until as late as 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays — is right by the dock entrance.

    Little Creek Oyster Farm & Market

    It's little spots like this that tell the current Greenport story. There's no sign or advertising for this tiny house changed from the cabin of an old ship that's practically hidden down Bootlegger's Alley near Mitchell Park. But there they are — streams of people who come to enjoy the fresh oysters while drinking local craft beer, with a waterside view.

    The Times Vintage

    Nostalgia (怀旧) for bygone times runs high in this 1909 building, which once served as the base for the Suffolk Times newspaper. These days, this well-designed shop sells vinyl records (黑胶唱片) and loads of old-fashioned clothing and home decoration items including mid-century highball sets.

    Greenport Fire

    Heat comes in many forms and several are sold here — hot sauces, cigars and candles. Consult the chalkboard for the current sauce offerings or browse cigars such as a hand-rolled Honduran Leaf by Oscar or the Gurkha Cellar Reserve made with 18-year-aged tobacco.