It was a cold winter. The wind blew all night and the snow was blinding. When morning came, my three children and I got up and made our way to the windows. As we looked out the window, we saw that the henhouse was gone. Our three hens had been blown away.

    I looked at the emptiness outside. Then I saw all three chickens sat around the edge of a white bucket. How was this violent wind not blowing them into the field beyond? I quickly pulled on long snow pants and heavy winter coat, wrapped a scarf and stuck my feet into very large boots .

    I shouted at the wind as it blew. I was alone, save for my children. They stared out the window into the vast white sea of snow, their eyes peeled for any sign of movement. Outside I heard the sound of my boots as I walked against the wind.

    The snow circling around me, I steadily made my way to the soft cluck-cluck-cluck sound my hens always made. When I reached them, I saw that their little feet were holding on to the edge of the bucket, heads bent forward and away from the wind. I gently lifted each hen and put it carefully into the warm inside. Then I began the freezing walk back to the small shed directly behind our house. One by one I laid my chickens on the cold floor, and they began to cluck softly.

    As I shut the shed doors, my eyes went directly to the window where my children were watching. They jumped up and down cheering, and so did I! I wasn't some dragon slayer (屠龙者) from a fairy tale. I was simply a mom, but the look on my children's faces told me that they thought I was a hero mom.

    It was a Saturday morning, a day I believed would end in victory. For weeks, I had been preparing for the match at the county fairgrounds, sponsored(赞助) by our local riding club. My horse, Tonka, and I could run faster than any kid in the county, and I hoped to bring home a blue ribbon.

    My mother usually drove me to the riding events, but on this day, my father planned to drop us off at the fairgrounds with the horse trailer(马车) .

    Although we never discussed it, my father's struggle with alcoholism had become the silent center of our family life. My mother was paralyzed with fear and indecision. Her salary as a part-time nurse couldn't possibly support four children. No one talked about alcoholism in those days, and it was my family secret.

    We climbed on the trailer and my father pulled out of our driveway and headed toward the fairgrounds, picking up speed once we hit the main road. It wasn't until we felt a big bump that I realized the trailer was out of control. The dream of my riding winner disappeared. Tonka lay on the floor, completely still. No words were possible. I knew he was dead.

    Suddenly a man appeared. "Are you all right?" he asked. "Yes." I answered, although I knew that nothing was all right. "Sit here on the grass," he said. He bent down to look into the trailer. Tonka remained still. He touched Tonka and then turned to face me. "He is going to be OK. He has just been knocked unconscious." He rubbed Tonka's cheeks and gently pulling his ears. Tonka rose to his feet.

    Our father was talking to a police officer. He was upset and in pain and took little notice of me. I looked back; the man was gone.

    I never forgot him. He gave me strength and a sense of hope in a dark and frightening moment.

    Last year I ruined my summer vacation by bringing along a modern convenience that was too convenient for my own good: the iPad. Instead of looking at nature, I checked my email. Instead of paddling a small boat, I followed my Twitter feed (推特简讯). Instead of reading great novels, I stuck to reading four newspapers each morning. I was behaving as if I were still in the office. My body was on vacation but my head wasn't.

    So this year I made up my mind to try something different: withdrawal (退出) from the Internet. I knew it wouldn't be easy, since I'm bad at self-control. But I was determined. I started by giving the iPad to my wife.

    The cellphone signal at our house was worse than in the past, making my attempts at cheating a frustrating experience. I was trapped, forced to go through with my plan. Largely cut off from e-mail, Twitter and my favorite newspaper websites, I had few ways to connect to the world except for radio and how much radio can one listen to, really? I had to do what I had planned to all along: read books.

    This experience has had a happy ending. With determination and the strong support of my wife, I won in my vacation struggle against the Internet, realizing finally that it was I, not the iPad, that was the problem. I knew I had won when we passed a Starbucks and my wife asked if I wanted to stop to use the Wi-Fi. “I don't need it,” I said.

    However, as we return to post -vacation life, a harder test begins: Can I continue when I'm back at work? There are times when the need to know what's being said right now is great. And I have no intention of giving up my convenience completely. But I hope to resist the temptation (诱惑) to check my e-mail every five minutes, which leads to checking my Twitter feed and a website or two.

    I think a vacation is supposed to help you reset your brain to become more productive. Here I hope this one worked.

     At one time, computers were expected largely to remove the need for paper copies of documents because they could be stored electronically. But for all the texts that are written, stored and sent electronically, a lot of them are still ending up on paper.

     It is difficult to measure the quantity of paper used as a result of the use of Internet-connected computers, although just about anyone who works in an office can tell you that when email is introduced, the printers start working overtime. "I feel in my bones this revolution is causing more trees to be cut down," says Ted Smith of the Earth Village Organization.  

     Perhaps the best sign of how computer and Internet use pushes up demand for paper comes from the high-tech industry itself, which sees printing as one of its most promising new markets. Several Internet companies have been set up to help small businesses print quality documents from a computer. Earlier this week Hewlett-Packard Co. announced a plan to develop new technologies that will enable people to print even more so they can get a hard copy of a business document, a medical record or just an online email, even if they are nowhere near a computer. As the company sees it, the more use of the Internet the greater demand for printers.

     Does all this mean environmental concerns have been forgotten? Some activists suggest people have been led to believe that a lot of dangers to the environment have gone away. "I guess people believe that the problem is taken care of, because of recycling," said Kelly Quirke, director of the Rainforest Action Network in San Francisco. Yet Quirke is hopeful that high-tech may also prove helpful. He says printers that print on both sides are growing in popularity.

     The action group has also found acceptable paper made from materials other than wood, such as agricultural waste.

Sonya took Rupert, a rescue dog, back home three years ago, and soon found it liked attacking strangers and other animals, which she believed was caused by pain.

It took Sonya a year to develop a normal relationship with Rupert, during which she learned it was afraid of being left alone and also couldn't walk properly. Finally, she decided to take it to see a vet (兽医). After examining Rupert, the vet said its leg was broken, and it needed an immediate operation.

But when it had to go in for an operation on its leg, there was a problem—the vet Mike couldn't get near the dog. Mike and Sonya were left scratching their heads until one of them came up with an idea. Sonya said Rupert slept on a mouse suit so she suggested that Mike put it on.

At first, the dog barked wildly when Mike tried to operate on it in usual clothes. To make his patient feel at ease, Mike decided to dress up in the mouse clothes to see if it would be less worried. Amazingly, it worked. It stopped barking and immediately became good friends with Mike when he put on the suit. As a result, he was able to perform an operation on the leg safely and the result was quite satisfying.

After the successful operation, Mike hugged the dog around the neck, which isn't usually well-received by pets. Mike tried to be as respectful of its needs as possible and made time to give some attention. What Mike had done created a special experience or event in the dog's life.

15 years ago, Erin Merryn met a kitten who needed a home when she was a college student.

He jumped into her arms and refused to let her go.

"I was attached immediately and decided that I would take a risk and try hiding a kitten in my college dorm where animals are obviously not allowed," Erin recalled.

A week later she was caught and given 48 hours to remove the cat. After several phone calls, Erin was able to find an old lady to take Bailey, the kitten. But Bailey did not get along with his new housemate. As soon as Erin learned that he would be sent away, she immediately offered to take him back. "I plotted for a month to convince my parents to let me keep him." said Erin.

Six years ago, Erin had Abby, her beautiful daughter. She didn't know what Bailey would think about the new addition when she brought her home from the hospital.

"But it was love at first sight." Erin said. Bailey stayed by Abby's side, guarding and showering her with love and purrs. As Abby grew, he became her protective brother, watching over her every step of the way. Abby picked up a book one day and tried to read it with Bailey by her side. He became her perfect audience, and the sweet boy was completely attracted by Abby as she told him stories of wonder.

A video showing Abby reading to Bailey went viral on the Internet in 2018. Numerous people followed Erin on social media platforms.

Unfortunately, on December 8, 2018, just months after becoming famous, the 14-year old cat passed away from kidney failure.

A full month after Bailey's passing, Erin still got cards and gifts from caring individuals. It is this love that Erin hopes Bailey's fans hold on to. She wants her furry "first-born" to be remembered as a symbol of compassion that inspires others to treat the world with love.