The mom of a former NICU baby has opened a hospital beauty bar to spoil other parents of high-risk newborns.

Sarah Pulley knows the NICU inside and out — four years ago, her daughter Amelia was born premature and spent four months in the neonatal intensive care unit at two different hospitals in Indianapolis.

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A widow has spent the last 15 years creating a rhododendron garden as a way of remembering her late husband.

Diana Barbour started the venture with her husband Anthony at their Bolesworth Castle estate in Cheshire before his death.

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Act of Beauty: smile; sing; tell a joke or funny story; laugh; whistle;

Act of Comfort: encourage someone who is having a hard day, has received bad news, been fired, or lost a loved one. Congratulate someone who has had good fortune, been promoted, or been blessed in an unusual way. Good news can be isolating when others become jealous.

Act of Construction: Write a brief message, (ie. “hang in there”, “let’s fly at five”, “You are loved/appreciated”, “You are a blessing from heaven.” Then fold the paper, to build a paper airplane. Fly it to a child, someone you notice who is having a bad day, or someone you care about.

Act of Courage: Speak up politely when someone is being bullied, cancelled, or unjustly criticized. Stand firm on the thoughtful decisions that you have made in the best interests of your family, (ie to homeschool or not; quarantine or not; zoom or not; activity restriction or not;) and respect the choices of others. Each family is different and what works for one may not be what will meet the needs of another. Most people are doing the best they can, but there is much confusion and anger, exacerbated by an intolerant, compromised and untrustworthy news media. Additionally, there has been a dramatic increase in spontaneous language manipulation, or selectively changing the traditional meaning of words for political reasons so they no longer mean what they once did. The changes are then reinforced by the media and so add to the confusion.

The worst time to play with language and capriciously change the meanings of words, is during a crisis.

Spreading misinformation, grandstanding dramatics, and the protection of personal and political agendas, have become priorities for both politicians and pundits, as they “work the crisis” and put the needs of the people last during this pandemic. As a result, trustworthy information is hard to find. So don’t blame your fellow citizens. Respect the COVID family practices some have chosen and the social distancing needs of others.

Essential Act: Pay a bill, take out the trash, clean the shower, or floss your teeth. Spend some time mentally rehearsing your “dream” goals, imagining how you will feel when you attain them.

Forgiveness: Identify someone you need to forgive. If able, and not spiritually challenged, one can pray the following, or a similar prayer.

Prayer: “I choose to forgive all those who have harmed me and I ask forgiveness of all those I may have harmed, deliberately or unintentionally. By the grace of God, may we all be healed of the causes and consequences of our actions, and come to know peace”, (in Jesus’ name, if Christian), amen.

Apologize if you have caused harm. (Not with manipulative false guilt), by saying any of the following: “I’m sorry”, “I was wrong”, “I didn’t mean to hurt you”, “My bad”, etc. The English language has a remarkable number of ways to enable reconciliation and an incredible vocabulary for peacemaking. This is consistent with freedom loving peoples who realize that mistakes are a logical consequence of freedom and acknowledge that people need ways to reconcile if peace and the pursuit of happiness are to be preserved.

Gratitude: Say “thank you” to someone you usually overlook. Your spouse and other family members can be surprising recipients. Thank God for unperceived blessings. Thank the people whose work and effort support our daily lives, and sadly are only missed when they are gone.

Growth: learn a new vocabulary word and use it in a sentence each day for 21 days. Review and practice that foreign language you learned in school.

Hope: Say something kind or to encourage or help a child; Telephone someone in quarantine just to listen; send cheerful cards, letters or texts. Set goals for the future, or teach someone about goal setting.

Order: make a bed; pick up and/or throw/put away something that you are NOT responsible for, and don’t tell the guilty party. Return abandoned shopping carts to the designated place for disinfecting; OR with appropriate PPE,(masks, gloves) jump in and disinfect a few carts, or handrails, or other contact points when disinfectant is available, at a place or space that is not your own.

Peace: Check out the vocabulary for reconciliation and develop/list/state 5 different ways to say, “I’m sorry.” Broaden your peace-making vocabulary.

Unity: Perform any opposite act in unity with others who work with this program to make the world a better place. If able, say a prayer for everyone using AOA strategies, that their efforts will be beneficial for themselves, their families and others.

Act of Beauty: smile; sing; tell a joke or funny story; laugh; whistle;

Act of Comfort: encourage someone who is having a hard day, has received bad news, been fired, or lost a loved one. Congratulate someone who has had good fortune, been promoted, or been blessed in an unusual way. Good news can be isolating when others become jealous.

Act of Construction: Write a brief message, (ie. “hang in there”, “let’s fly at five”, “You are loved/appreciated”, “You are a blessing from heaven.” Then fold the paper, to build a paper airplane. Fly it to a child, someone you notice who is having a bad day, or someone you care about.

Act of Courage: Notice someone you do not know & begin a conversation. About anything. OR try this: Approach them & say something like, “Things have really been tough this year & it’s really been hard to pursue happiness. Do you have any secret strategies” /or “You’re not alone if you think the world’s gone nuts. What’s your take on all of this?” OR take some time & take stock of yourself, your achievements & failures, & reassess your goals. If you don’t have any goals, now’s a great time to develop some. Honor social distancing with all of these actions.

Essential Act: Pay a bill, take out the trash, clean the shower, or floss your teeth. Spend some time mentally rehearsing your “dream” goals, imagining how you will feel when you attain them.

Forgiveness: Identify someone you need to forgive. If able, & not spiritually challenged, pray the following Prayer: “I choose to forgive all those who have harmed me, and ask forgiveness of all those I may have harmed, willingly or unintentionally. By the grace of God, may we all be healed & come to know peace”, (in Jesus’ name, if Christian), amen. Apologize if you have caused harm. (Not with manipulative false guilt), by saying any of the following: “I’m sorry”, “I was wrong”, “I didn’t mean to hurt you”, “My bad”, etc. The English language has a remarkable number of ways to enable reconciliation & an incredible vocabulary for peacemaking. This is consistent with freedom loving peoples who realize that mistakes are a logical consequence of freedom & acknowledge that people need ways to reconcile if peace & the pursuit of happiness are to be preserved.

Gratitude: Say “thank you” to someone you usually overlook. Your spouse & other family members can be surprising recipients. Thank God for unperceived blessings.

Growth: learn a new vocabulary word & use it in a sentence each day for 21 days. OR study or re-learn that foreign language you studied in high school or college; or resume practicing that musical instrument that’s collecting dust in the attic. (New learning is OK too but may have more expense attached.)

Hope: Say something kind or to encourage or help a child; Telephone someone in quarantine just to listen & encourage; send cheerful cards, letters or texts to those who may be struggling. Set goals for the future, or teach someone about goal setting, OR do the Dream Rescue exercises for yourself or others; Collect seeds, acorns or nuts from local plants & trees & plant them in ravaged spaces in your community, (but get permission from landowners, first!) Read a book out loud to a child, someone isolated or with vision problems.

Order: make a bed; pick up and/or throw/put away something that you are NOT responsible for, & don’t tell the guilty party. Return abandoned shopping carts to the designated place for disinfecting; OR with appropriate PPE,(masks, gloves) jump in & disinfect a few carts, or handrails, or other contact points when disinfectant is available.

Peace: Check out the vocabulary for reconciliation & develop/list/state 5 different ways to say, “I’m sorry.” Broaden your peace-making vocabulary, & support & encourage others to engage in peacemaking; A family gathering for the stated purpose of increasing the peace, might be helpful.

Unity: Perform any opposite act in unity with others who work with this program to make the world a better place. If you are not spiritually challenged, say a prayer for everyone using AOA strategies, that their efforts will be beneficial for themselves, their families & others.

Remember, poor, Appalachian elders identified successful reconciliation with others as one of the most positive & rewarding of life experiences. So go for it! The present struggles within our nation, promise a target rich environment!

Hopefully, we can all agree and stand together to fight this menace:

All states are reporting an increasing number of complaints about Recliner Adhesions, a recently discovered side effect of prolonged COVID quarantine that worsens in cold, inclement weather.

The adhesions are formed by the prolonged contact of the posterior side of the human body with upholstered surfaces. Over time, the upholstered surfaces form a unique, molecular bond that firmly attaches the citizen to the upholstery.

This composite medical condition results from a combination of several risk factors:

• The availability of a recliner, lounge or cozy chair conducive to comfort.
• Cozy lap quilts or blankets
• A fireplace or open view wood stove that enables continuous viewing of fire
• The presence of pets, either cats or dogs; Risk increases if pets are trained to curl up and sleep on small rugs before the fire, or on cozy blankets on someone’s lap.
• Presence of a techno device i.e., tablet, tv, laptop, cell phone, music player, video game, etc.
• Bad, negative or depressing news or information for which one has no responsibility or control.
• More than 6” of accumulated snow in northern states, for longer than 48 hours; (Snow in small quantities has an energizing effect in the south and appears to be preventive.)

You are at high risk for developing recliner adhesions if you have 4 or more of these factors present in your home on cold, gloamy or snowy winter days. The following signs and symptoms may indicate the onset of the condition.

1. Over whelming reluctance to move, for any reason, including getting up to let the pets out. The feeling of slowly melting into and bonding with upholstery. Becoming “one with the chair”.
2. Declining ability to control, move or activate one’s techno device of choice, the device streams continuously on the same, repetitive content.
3. Snapping, snarling, growling or profanity when a declining fire is noticed.
4. Spontaneous, rapid reversal of symptoms followed by a period of animated gambling to determine who must go outdoors to get more wood.
5. After wood retrieval is assigned, all but the wood gatherer experience a rapid physical and mental shutdown and return to their prior resting state.
6. The wood gatherer is cured.

-Peace… Linda

THIS ALERT IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOUR FRIENDS AT WISDOM FROM APPALACHIA

I had this hand made rocker with breaks in the weaving. I started to repair it with old belts. It’s not finished yet, (I ran out of belts) but it's an Act of Restoration in response to the Nashville bombing.

- Together in spirit, Linda

Over the years Appalachian music has been appreciated by many. Here’s a carol we bet you’ve never heard, sung at our house after our Thanksgiving meal. We share it in the spirit of quarantine. It is sung to “Stuttgart” by Christian Frederick Witt. I dedicate this post to my sisters, Karen and Judy, as an Essential act, in memory of the many times we’ve cleaned holiday carcasses and made take home boxes, together.

NOW IT’S TIME TO CLEAN THE CARCASS

Now it’s time to clean the carcass,
Dinner’s done and so are we.
Save that soup meat cold and gleaming,
Come and watch the people flee.

No one wants the job that’s certain,
Bathroom lines have quickly formed,
Jane hides fast behind the curtains,
Bob is half-way to the dorm.

What a mess, the grease and foil,
save what’s left for turkey pie,
sandwiches and snacks to munch on,
when work’s done no one will cry.

Billy tried to pitch the carcass,
He was acting for the group.
Grandma caught him, what a farkus…
They’ll be back for Christmas soup!

- Together in spirit, Linda

A homeless man saved all the animals at Atlanta's W-Underdogs shelter after it caught fire last week, officials with the nonprofit said.

The W-Underdogs headquarters caught fire Dec. 18 while rescue workers were picking up supply donations, according to a Facebook post from the shelter. Keith Walker, a 53-year-old homeless man, rushed into the shelter to help get all the animals out safely.

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When thousands of truckers were stranded in southern England by France's border closure, help came from an unexpected source: a small volunteer army of British Sikhs who jumped into action to rustle up thousands of chickpea curries and pizzas.

Up to 10,000 truckers are stranded as they wait for COVID-19 tests to allow them to travel on to the Continent, while their families gather thousands of miles away for Christmas.

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A West Virginia police department spread some holiday cheer this week by handing out gift cards instead of traffic tickets.

The West Virginia Fraternal Order of Police donated $500 in Chick-fil-A gift cards to the South Charleston Police Department, which distributed them between Wednesday and Friday, according to local reports..

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Before, during and after Hurricane Florence, strangers helped strangers.

Almost three months after the storm, two women are trying to bring a sense of normalcy at Christmas during a time that feels anything but.

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For Chris Parker, the arena’s entrance area might have seemed like a good place to ask people for money. Stephen Jones had found a spot nearby to sleep.

Now, the two men, both homeless, are being praised as heroes for helping victims of the Manchester Arena bombing.

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