My friend Kathy and I were going to Colorado Springs for holiday. The only problem was, I didn't have any luggage to pack my belongings in.

    My friend Debbie offered to lend me a suitcase that belonged to her father, who had passed away long ago. “I don't know if you'll want to use it,” she said so gently, “it's very old, worn out, and such an ugly yellow color." I was so touched by her offer to lend something that belonged to her father, but I was also concerned about the possibility of it being damaged or lost. She insisted that I take it. So with the suitcase safely in hand, I boarded the train with Kathy.

    We spent two days and one night on the train, sleeping in our seats. As we slept, we were awakened at times, by the noises of the train pulling in and out of the stations.

    The next morning we eagerly awaited the announcement: Next stop, Colorado Springs. But suddenly, there came another announcement over the loud speaker. “During one of the overnight stops, many pieces of luggage were mistakenly removed from the train and left at the wrong location.”

    Kathy and I just looked at each other, as I felt the disappointment swell. Could my worst fear be coming true, was Debbie's suitcase lost?

    Just then two train conductors passed our seats. One of them jokingly said to the other, “Did you ever see such an old, ugly, brighter yellow, piece of luggage in all of your life?”

    Before the other conductor could answer, I screamed, “YES, MY SUITCASE MADE IT!”

    The two conductors stopped in their tracks! and, very red in the face, couldn't seem to apologize enough for having insulted my suitcase.

    When I returned it, I couldn't wait to get the suitcase back into Debbie's safe hands. She asked, “Did everything go well on the trip?” Somehow. I just couldn't resist telling her what had happened. She laughed heartily.

    When I recall the golden suitcase, Fm reminded, that like the suitcase, we can see ourselves as too old, useless, worn out, and of little value. Or, we can take a closer look and realize that we are one of God's most valued creations -- unique, and holding inside our most valuable possessions -- that of love, faith, hope, and wisdom.

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    The new mayor of Hillsdale, Michigan, is a man of the people, ready to listen to their problems, but only until 6 p.m. Then he has to do his homework. Michael Sessions, 18, beat former mayor Douglas Ingles, 51, by just two votes and became the new mayor of Hillsdale. He is America's youngest mayor.

    As Sessions was too young to enter the election in the spring of 2005, he registered to vote on Sept, 22, one day after his 18-year-old birthday. The day after that he started his write-in campaign, which means he should persuade voters to remember his name and write it by hand on the voting ballots（选票）.

    To help get his name known, Sessions earned＄700 by selling apples over the summer. He spent the money on posters and put them on the Hillsdale's lawns.

    Sessions' month-long campaign included going door to door, explaining his ideas of the town's future in the kitchens of his neighbors. "They'd look at me, and say‘How old are you again? How much experience do you have?' And I say ‘I'm still in high school', " he said. Sessions promised Hillsdale's voters he would renew local economy. “I was hopeful the whole time, ” he explained. One day he spent so long out on the streets knocking on the doors that he ended up in a hospital emergency room.

    Sessions said that his schoolwork will not get in the way of his job as a mayor. “From 7:50 a.m. to 2:30p.m., I'11 be a student. From 3 to 6, I'11 be the mayor of Hillsdale," he said.

    “He did a very brave thing that couldn't have been easy for him to do, "said Jack Vettel, a councilman in Hillsdale, a city of 8,200 about 75 miles southwest of Detroit. "He does care about this town. He's been here all his life.”

    Sessions will receive＄3, 600 a year during this four-year term, and will work out of his bedroom since the town does not provide the mayor with an office.

    While the U.S. is still debating about getting rid of the penny, Sweden is rapidly moving towards abolishing currency altogether. Though this may sound radical(过激的), it is a natural evolution in this digital society.

    Sweden, which was the first European country to introduce banknotes in 1661, has just been working harder to convince its residents that digital payments are a safer alternative to carrying cash.

    Over the years, the idea has gained popularity with residents, especially the younger generation that is much more comfortable with technology. Today many banks don't even have ATMs and some have stopped handling cash altogether!

    Tickets to ride public buses in most Swedish cities can only be purchased via cell phones. Numerous businesses are also moving towards accepting only digital payments. Even the homeless that sell street paper to make ends meet have to start accepting this mode of payment!

    But despite its growing popularity, some people don't like this radical idea. They include the homeless, elderly people as well as those living in rural areas who are still uncomfortable with mobile phones and computers. But the officials are confident that in the very near future, they will be able to convince everyone to move this safe and more cost-effective payment system.

    Sweden is not the only country trying to abolish paper currency and coins. The movement is rapidly gaining ground in Denmark and Finland as well. In 2014, Israel announced a three-step plan to go cashless and just last week the vendors(小贩)of a popular street in Sydney declared they would stop accepting currency from customers. Whether this phenomenon spreads remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure—With increasingly advanced payment systems being introduced every day, pulling out cash is rapidly becoming “uncool”.

    When Jenny Benson was eight, her mother took her to soccer practice for the first time.

    "She's never played soccer before," Mrs. Benson told the coach." I'm not sure how she'll do."

    Jenny ran onto the field and joined the other players. Over the next hour, Mrs. Benson and the coach watched as Jenny out­ran many of the more experienced players.

    "I knew then that soccer would be Jenny's sport." Mrs. Benson recalls. And she was right.

    It may have helped that Jenny had spent much of her time trying to keep up with her three brothers." I wanted to be just like them," Jenny says." My family has inspired me for my entire life."

    Jenny has retired from the United States women's national soccer team. She started out on her professional career in the Philadelphia Charge, a team in the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA)．Later on, she joined FC Energy Voronezh, and then New Jersey Wildcats.

    When the WUSA was being formed, league officials watched many college soccer games, looking for players good enough to join the league. They were very interested in Jenny, who played for the University of Nebraska.

    "Throughout that college season, I knew I was being watched," Jenny says, "I knew I couldn't be perfect, so I just tried to be very consistent and have fun."

    As a professional, Jenny relied on her focused but fun­loving attitude. "In a game, I try never to put too much pressure on myself. The more I concentrate on having fun, the better I play." She says. "I have good and bad days, just like everyone else, but I know the sun will always come up after a bad day. So all I have to do is to adjust myself, either to the change of my inner feelings or to the change of circumstances. That helps me get through anything."

    According to a team of researchers, an animal's ability to perceive(感知)time is linked to their pace of life.

    "Our results lend support to the importance of time perception in animals where the ability to perceive time in a very short time may be the difference between life and death for fast moving creatures." commented lead author Kevin Healy from Trinity College Dublin.

    The study was done with a variety of animals using phenomenon based on the maximum speed of flashes of light an individual can see before the light source is seen as constant. Dogs, for example, have eyes with a refresh rate higher than humans.

    One example of this phenomenon at work, the authors say, is the housefly and its ability to avoid being hit. The research showed flies "observe motion in a shorter time than our own eyes can achieve, "which allows them to avoid being hit.

    Professor Graeme Ruxton of the University of St Andrews in Scotland, who worked jointly on the research project, said in a statement, "Having eyes that send updates to the brain at much higher frequencies than our eyes do is of no value if the brain cannot process that information equally quickly. Thus, this work highlights the impressive abilities of even the smallest animal brains. Flies might not be deep thinkers, but they can make good decisions very quickly."

    In comparison, the tiger beetle(虎甲虫)runs faster than its eyes can keep up, basically becoming blind, which requires it to stop periodically to re-evaluate its prey's(猎物)position.

    Our results suggest that time perception offers an as yet unstudied dimension along which animals can specialize and there is considerable range to study this system in more detail.

Sagrada Familia (2,056,448 visits/year)

Opening hours: 09:00—18:00 (October—March); 09:00—20:00 (April—September) Admission: $ 11, or $ 10 with the Barcelona Card.

Disabled Access: Yes.

The temple has been under construction since 1882 and they've still got another 30 to 80 years to go before it is finished. The project's vast scale and its special design have made it one of Barcelona's top tourist attractions for many years.

La Pedrera (1,133,220 visits/year)

Opening hours: November—February: 09:00—18:30; March—October: 09:00—20:00

Admission: $ 9.50. Save 20% with the Barcelona Card.

Disabled Access: No.

This building used to be called Casa Mila but nowadays it's more commonly known as La Pedrera. It is a unique modernist building in Barcelona and was made of bricks and had colorful tiles (瓦). It was built between 1906 and 1912 by famous Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi (1852—1926) and in 1984 it was declared a UNESCO World Her it age site with other Gaudi buildings in Barcelona.

Barcelona FC Museum (1,032,763 visits/year)

Opening hours: 6th April—4th October: (Monday to Saturday) 10:00—20:00; the rest of the year: 10:00—18:30

Admission: $ 8.50 for entry to the museum and $ 17 for a guided tour.

Disabled Access: Yes.

When you buy your ticket you have two options. You can buy a ticket for the museum to see the football stadium or you can buy a dual (双的) ticket for $ 15 where you get to see the museum and the scenes at the club.

Miro Museum (518,869 visits/year)

Opening hours: Check the website for details as they vary relying on the time of the year. Admission: $ 8. Save 20% with the Barcelona Card.

Disabled Access: Yes.

This museum has a wide range of Miro's works dating back as far as 1914. This art work collection not only includes his paintings but also a good selection of sculptures.