Anything is Possible!

April 4, 2026
by JoAnna 12 Comments

SoCS: Hiding in the Tapestry

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “hide.” Use it way you’d like. Enjoy!

There are fond memories of playing hide and seek as children in the neighborhood, maybe after dinner, before the streetlights came on…..

Sometimes, when I’m embracing my inner introvert, I like to hide from people in general, at least physically, by staying in my house. There’s a facebook page that has a lot of memes about the coziness of staying home which reinforces my tendency to want to be a homebody. The facebook page name has the word, cottage, in it. It’s all about coziness. But the little section of my brain that tries to hide secret thoughts of conspiracies wonders if this is a plot to keep all women at home with their pretty flowers, cats, and coffee mugs. There was a time, many years ago, when I disdained stay at home “housewives” as they were called. Now, I understand the loveliness and luxury of staying at home, decorating, planting flowers, tending the home…… Life can change like that.

Hide. Mine has never been naturally thick. In fact, my skin is physically thinner than when I was younger, and my psyche has always been on the sensitive side. I sometimes envy people who have thick skin… thick hide… Sort of….

There’s a song by Carole King called “Tapestry” which I used to listen to in the early 70s, with the line about the drifter passing by wearing a coat of many colors around his leathered hide. That’s some imagery there. There’s a Joseph in the Bible who was given a coat of many colors. So maybe the drifter was more than just a drifter. He must have had a colorful life. Anyway, it’s a beautiful song about life and death.

I read somewhere about how a tapestry does not make sense from the back, with lose strings and all, but from a different perspective it makes sense and seems to go together. From close up, things don’t always make sense, but in the big picture, it all works out. That’s what I’m believing today, in the stream of consciousness.

I just now found this video of the song, Tapestry with the background of a tapestry made in honor of Carole King.

And since it is Easter Saturday, I thought of this song about trusting Jesus as my hiding place, which I suppose can happen even in a crowd.

Happy Easter!

~~~

For more streams of consciousness,

visit our host, Linda Hill

by clicking HERE.

March 31, 2026
by JoAnna 25 Comments

Good News Tuesday for March 31, 2026: Nineteen Cities Make Progress in Cutting Air Pollution, Landfill Grows Food in Green Dome, Med School Graduate Gets Hometown Residency, and a Sweet yet Questionable Dog Story

Cities Make Remarkable Progress in Cutting Air Pollution

A recent report shows that nineteen cities around the world have cut “toxic air pollution by 20-45% in a little over a decade.” Beijing, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, London, and San Fracisco were some of the cities making remarkable progress. The Guardian has details HERE.

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Landfill Channels Waste to Grow Fruits and Vegetables on Site

A landfill near London collects methane-rich biogas to heat a huge inflatable growing dome on site. This one site alone has, “…the potential to produce over 8,000 tons of affordable fruit and vegetables annually, creating 130 new jobs, while preventing the release of 3,800 tons of CO2 each year.” The Good News Network has more information and photos HERE.

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Woman is Returning as a Doctor to the Hospital Where She Worked as a Janitor

Shay Taylor-Allen will be graduating medical school in May and just found out she was matched with her first-choice for residency, Yale School of Medicine, the same hospital where she was born and later worked as a janitor when she was 18. Read more of Shay’s story and see a video of her reaction to the match HERE at ABC News.

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Based on a True Story?

There was a video I wanted to share about a shelter dog surrendered by his deaf owner who could no longer take care of him. Five months later, a five-year-old deaf girl comes to the shelter and discovers the dog knows sign language. Her mother adopts the dog. It’s a very moving story and went straight to my heart since I volunteer with shelter dogs.

But something felt off, so I looked a little closer. For one thing, the story was completely narrated. I found two other videos of the same story, same details, but with a different narrator, different buildings, different names and different people in the same roles. I read that it was based on a true story from Reddit and then found a disclaimer way at the bottom that the video is fictionalized but inspired by true stories.

The story has educational value and would make a great children’s book. It teaches us to not judge too quickly (or for that matter, believe too quickly that something is true.) Though I still have mixed feelings about it, Here’s the video that initially moved me.

I’d like to know what you think, but please don’t let the questionable dog story overshadow the good news that it real. I believe some parts of the dog story are likely to be true.

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Got Good News?

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March 28, 2026
by JoAnna 18 Comments

SoCS: Portraits of America from Monster to Norman Rockwell

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “portrait.” Use it way you’d like. Have fun!

Where have all the portraits gone? I still have photos of grandkids scattered around the house and old school pictures of my kids. They still do school pictures, but I have not liked the ones I see lately. So many pictures these days are on our phones or digitally exist in the cloud of something along with our laptops.

The portrait setting on my phone takes good pictures sometimes by blurring the background when you want to focus on one item. I experimented with this today on this apple blossom.

Looking at it now, it seems to have a lot of white on it. Is that fungus? I probably should have sprayed it with neem oil before the blossoms. Now I have to wait till the blossoms are gone because I don’t want to disturb the potential pollinators.

Last spring, I was horrified to find Japanese beetles all over our two little apple trees, devouring the leaves, so I’ve been ready with the neem oil, which is good for bugs as well as fungus, if I recall correctly. I’m going to look at the little apple trees every day and be ready. That’s my goal. The neem oil is supposed to be more eco-friendly than some other options.

I’ll probably think of something else I would like to write about later with the prompt. But maybe not. Maybe that’s it.

Oh, yeah, I was thinking right after reading the prompt about a portrait of America and Norman Rockwell. My parents had a book of Norman Rockwell paintings. The book was falling apart, having provided many hours of enjoyment, so before letting it go, I took photos of my favorite pictures and will look for them in a minute. The stream of consciousness is pulling me along.

Portrait of America. Wasn’t that a TV show?

“America, where are you now, don’t you care about your sons and daughters? Don’t you know, we need you now, we can’t fight alone against the monster….”

That was from possibly the hardest rock album I ever owned. Steppenwolf, Monster. from 1969.

Okay, it’s not really hard rock, just hard truth.

Norman Rockwell was a very talented artist. Many of his paintings were funny. Some were serious, and some were dramatic. I decided to play it safe and just share his most iconic paintings along with the inscription from Mom to Dad.

We have choices. Many choices.

Sometimes I just want to take care of my apple trees.

Sometimes I do a little more.

~~~

For more streams of consciousness, visit out host, Linda G. Hill by clicking the link below:

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS March 28, 2026 |

March 24, 2026
by JoAnna 34 Comments

Good News Tuesday for March 24, 2026: Greece Evacuates People and Pets from Gulf, Plastic Waste to Parkinson’s Drug, EU Bans Animal Testing for Detergents, and a Barber Helps Neurodivergent Kids

Greek Government Evacuates 100 People with Pets from Gulf

Bypassing the challenges of flying internationally with companion animals, the Greek government organized an evacuation out of the United Arab Emirates (south of Iran) for over 100 people and their pets who couldn’t get seats on commercial airlines.

“Our pets are not luggage, they are part of our families,”

Nikos Chrysakis, Greek Interior Ministry’s Secretary for the Protection of Companion Animals

Here’s the story from The Good News Network.

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Plastic Waste Turned into Drug for Parkinson’s

At the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, scientists engineered E. coli bacteria to start a series of biological reactions turning a type of plastic waste into L-DOPA. L-Dopa is a “frontline medication” for Parkinsons Disease and is also used to treat restless leg syndrome. The Good News Network has details, HERE.

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EU to Ban Animal Testing for Detergents and Cleaning Products

The EU recently agreed to ban animal testing in the development of detergents and related cleaning products. Scheduled to become effective in 2029, the revised rules require that only scientifically validated non-animal methods can be used to assess the safety of detergents. You can read more HERE.

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Texas Barber Helps Neurodivergent Kids and Families

Barber Henry Amaja Specializes in helping neurodivergent kids and parents. His invention of a weighted cape, using quiet clippers, and patience help kids with sensory issues feel more comfortable getting a haircut.

PS: Henry has received donations to be able to expand his barber shop called, Trimmys:

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Got Good News?

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March 21, 2026
by JoAnna 20 Comments

SoCS: It’s Not Always Easy to be Hard

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “easy/hard.” Use one, use both, use ’em any way you’d like. Bonus points if you get both words into your post. Enjoy!

It’s not always easy to be hard. This is especially true for those who care, for people who are empathic or compassionate. We may have a hard time setting boundaries. But sometimes boundaries keep us safe. If you’ve given a lot already, and it seems like the situation isn’t getting better, then we have to say no.

Well, we don’t have to say no. But maybe we do, because you can’t pour from an empty cup. This may have to do with money, but also it could be about energy or time. We need to set limits.

Sigh. I didn’t mean to start off so serious and general. But the song came to mind, “Easy to be Hard.” It was in the play and movie, HAIR, but I like the Three Dog Night version better, maybe because I listened to it a lot many, many years ago.

In the Bible it says, “Love your neighbor as yourself. ” It does not say, instead of yourself. It doesn’t say more than yourself. It says, “as yourself.” And it wasn’t just in the Bible. It’s something Jesus said in the Bible as the second most important commandment after loving God.

This loving our neighbors as ourselves goes along with including ourselves in our circles of compassion.

Yet there are some people who do find it easy to be hard. Right? Maybe people who are hard and tough feel secure in this habit. Like the current president of the US for example. It seems it’s easy for him to be hard, cruel, and uncaring. After all, what we practice we get good at. Some people become desensitized to the suffering of others. Maybe they always were insensitive or self-centered. I don’t know.

Dang. This is a downer of a post, but sometimes that happens, cause, life…..and mainstream news….

What can I do to turn this around?

In the music video from the HAIR movie, the guy who’s being hard turns around, because his friends convince him to turn around and go back to the mother of his child. You can see that around 3 minutes into the following video. It’s more powerful and personal than the Three Dog Night version. I had forgotten that.

It’s okay to change your mind.

Even Jesus changed his mind about helping the woman who said, even the dogs get the scraps (or crumbs?) that fall from the master’s table.

I had to look that up. It’s in Matthew 15: 21-28. At first, Jesus is hard in refusing the Canaanite woman asking Jesus to heal her daughter. Some might say he was downright rude because the woman was not part of “the children of God.” But when she said even the dogs get crumbs, Jesus changed his mind.

I love that Jesus changed his mind. I love the woman’s courage, and I love that Jesus came for everyone, not just a select group.

~~~

For more streams of consciousness,

visit our host, Linda Hill,

by clicking HERE.

March 17, 2026
by JoAnna 18 Comments

Good News Tuesday for March 17, 2026: Protecting Sacred Tribal Lands in California, Bike Repair Helps Kids in Ireland, Medical Training and Humanitarian Aid in Gaza, and Sam Bentley’s Good News Video

(Sorry for being so late today! Next time I have a morning appointment, I’ll plan to post GNT on Monday night )

Tribal Band and Others Protect Sacred Ancestral Lands from Mining Project

The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, along with environmental and Indigenous rights groups, succeeded in stopping a planned mining project at Juristac,(pronounced Huris-tak) on ancestral lands of significant spiritual importance in California. The purchase of the property by the Peninsula Open Space Trust ensures that the heart of the Juristac sacred lands will be protected. I discovered this article about the Juristac project on Rosaliene’s post about stewardship of the earth.

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Bike Repair Program Helps Kids in Ireland

The On Your Bike Project in Northern Ireland helps adolescents fix up old bicycles while they talk with the social worker Danny Bryce about their lives and challenges. The four-week program has worked with over 100 young people. The kids choose a damaged bike, help to upcycle it, learn about road safety, then get to take the bike home with them. Read about the program and a couple of the participants HERE in BBC News.

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Two Women Doctors Started a Medical Training and Supply Facility in Gaza

Dr. Nour and Dr. Nagham are sisters and physicians in Gaza, where they founded Pal Humanity, an organization that distributes essential supplies and trains medical providers. With nearly all hospitals, universities, and formal education systems destroyed in the area, Pal Humanity is where future health care providers can be trained and provide their services. Read more from GoodGoodGood.

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Sam Bentley’s News to Get You Through March

Sam Bently collects good news stories from around the world and shares them in videos like the one below. You might have seen one or two of these stories here on GNT, but Sam’s energy as he narrates the video make them all worth watching.

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Got Good News?

Feel free to share in the comments!

March 14, 2026
by JoAnna 13 Comments

SoCS: Forgiving Myself, Again

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “review.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

Linda’s great at giving us interesting prompts with multiple meanings. There’s the review of a play or a book (I could use more for mine, but that’s another story.) There’s re-viewing movies that I’ve watched over and over again because the familiarity is comforting like listening to an old song, and there’s reviewing information for some kind of a test or to make sure you understand, like to sign something. Who actually reads all those legal details that make my eyes cross?

In school, I was good at reviewing my notes for tests. I was good at memorizing and mnemonic devices. Now, that I’m officially old at 70, I’ve started writing things down more, though I’ve always liked to write things down. So, when a new procedure came out at the no kill shelter where I volunteer with dogs, I copied and pasted it and reviewed it multiple times. It had to do with new dogs. Not a big change, but a change from what we’ve done for the year or so that I’ve been there. I’ve always been a rule follower. Well, not always… not in my early 20s, but that’s another story, too.

That’s why it was so bizarre and embarrassing that I forgot the new procedure I had reviewed so carefully! It was only one mistake, and no one got hurt. In the grand scheme of things, not something to beat myself up about, but I did. Then I analyzed the heck out of it: The mistake was at the end of my self-determined volunteer shift. I was tired. I was trying to get as many dogs as I could out for a potty break before leaving and driving home 30 minutes on the curvy roads before dusk when there might be deer out on the road

That night, I figured out ways that I’d avoid this mistake in the future: Slow down and breathe more often. Take a step back. Take more snacks. Drink more water. Read my note card that I made. Start with the new dog new procedure first when I’m fresh and not tired. Then I worked on letting it go, sort of, but not really, because here we are again.

I was not in trouble. I of course felt compelled to admit my mistake and my embarrassment. No body yelled at me. They can’t dock my pay. I didn’t get fired. But I still feel embarrassed. Intellectually I know I’m making a mountain out of a molehill to still feel this level of embarrassment. (Deep breath) My shift the following week went fine.

The surprise came two weeks later which was this past week. I went in and got the run down on new dogs, etc. and chatted with the office volunteers a bit. Then I saw a picture of me posted on the wall near the door.

“Hey, that’s my picture on the wall!” I said. Under the photo it said, “Volunteer of the Month.” It took a moment to register. I was shocked. I didn’t think I’d ever be volunteer of the month, because I make mistakes. Not a lot, but sometimes I’m a little, um….. slow. I ask a lot of questions. I try to follow the rules, but every now and then, I have a brain fart or a senior moment.

Another volunteer pointed to an envelope on the desk with my name on it. There was a thank you card and a gift card to a restaurant. (What a great non-profit organization to do this every month.)

Driving home on the curvy roads which I’m slowly getting used to, I thought, maybe they just felt sorry for me… Then, I reminded myself that I’ve been consistent, volunteering almost every week and calling if I can’t make it. I offer good ideas. I ask questions. I take and share good photos of the dogs that they sometimes use on their website and social media.

When I told my daughter about all this, she said,

“Well, they would not have made you volunteer of the month if they thought you sucked.”

She makes me laugh sometimes, in a good way.

Is anyone else too hard on themselves for mistakes?

We need to stop it!

We need to include ourselves in our circles of compassion.

We need to forgive ourselves.

I know this, but sometimes I forget.

~~~

Here are photos of some wonderful dogs from the shelter: Spot, Cooper, and Odie

On this windy day, Odie was a bit scared of the tunnel which, blown by the wind, seemed to move on its own.

~~~

For more streams of consciousness,

visit our host, Linda Hill

by clicking HERE.

March 10, 2026
by JoAnna 11 Comments

Good News Tuesday for March 10, 2025: Former Inmate Buys Prison to Reduce Recidivism, Free Moves for Domestic Violence Victims, Water Harvester Pulls Water from Air, and a Teen who Recycles Aluminum for Charity

Former Inmate Buys a Former Prison for a Recidivism Reduction Center

At age18, Kerwin Pittman was incarcerated and spent 11 years in prison. After his release, he created an anti-recidivism hotline and a mobile recidivism reduction center on a bus. He recently bought a vacant prison in North Carolina to transform into the Recidivism Reduction Campus to provide housing and job training for formerly incarcerated people. I found this story at Good News Instead, then looked up the website: RREPS which includes a short video of Kerwin Pittman introducing his plan for the campus.

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Free Moving Services for Domestic Violence Victims

Last year, “Meathead Movers” completed 106 domestic violence-related moves for free. The California company has offered free moving services to domestic violence survivors for 25 years and started a coalition that attracted eight other US moving companies to do the same. Now free moves are available in 8 States and have helped thousands. The Good News Network has more HERE.

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Atmospheric Water Harvester Pulls 1000 Liters of Water from Air Daily

Nobel Prize winner, Professor Omar Yaghi of the University of California, invented an atmospheric water harvester that can pull up to 1000 liters of clean drinking water daily from the air. Yaghi’s invention provides a cleaner, more environmentally friendly alternative compared to desalination which requires more energy. MSN has details HERE.

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Teen has Recycled over a Million Aluminum Cans for Charity

13-year-old Ryan Hulance has raised thousands of dollars for charity by recycling more than a million aluminum cans. You can read more about Ryan’s work in The Good News Network, and listen to him tell about it the video below.

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Got Good News?

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March 7, 2026
by JoAnna 27 Comments

SoCS: Love Transcends Distance, Remembering my Sister, Shelter Dogs, and an Apology

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “distance.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

You’ve probably read here, and elsewhere, that sometimes we have to love people from a distance. That might be because a person is toxic and we’re trying to take care of our well-being. Or it might be because they moved away, or you moved away, or deployment in the military which makes me think of my parents when dad was in the corps for 20 years. Letters were the thing back then. Talking on the phone long distance was expensive.

David, my first boyfriend moved back to Connecticut with his family in 1972. I loved him, pined for him, from North Carolina. He wrote two letters and I wrote four. It as summertime and I was 16 so life went on. and on… Then in 2011, David found me again online. We had a long-distance relationship. Fortunately, we had cell phones by then, and it didn’t cost extra to call. My heart would beat faster as our regular 9pm calling time approached. Then we visited a few times, and he moved down to NC in the fall of 2012 after his company told him it was time to retire after 30 something years. Good timing! We got married in December of 2012.

Love can transcend distance. Prayer transcends distance. There’s even such a thing as reiki healing from a distance. My younger sister was killed in a car accident on her 16th birthday. A drunk driver hit her boyfriend’s car and killed both of them as they were going out to celebrate her birthday. That was so long ago. March 7 is the day she was born, two years after me. Today is her “heavenly birthday.” Though it’s easier to feel my father’s presence from heaven, I can also feel my sister, Mary Kaye’s presence, if I tune in to her. It’s vague. Or are these just memories?

Sometimes, when I watch a Harry Potter movie, Harry’s friend, Hermione Granger reminds me of my sister.

Sometimes I imagine (or do I hear?) my father’s voice. Maybe I feel or hear him more because I have more memories of him. He died in 2017. I’m glad we got closer before he died. I only have 16 years of memories with my little sister. If she had lived, I think she would have been a nurse or something like a home health aid. She did not do well in school, but she volunteered regularly at a small home for disabled children in the 1970s. She was kindhearted and a free spirit. I guess I’m missing her today and wishing we could have had more time to work through our sibling rivalry. I wish my daughter, my son, and my granddaughter could have known her.

I did not mean to go into so much detail, but that’s the stream of consciousness for you. If Mary Kaye had lived and was alive today, she would have maybe gotten me to not take things so seriously. Maybe we could have sung together. My older sister, Linda liked to sing, too….. They would have encouraged me to sing and to enjoy life. Maybe they are encouraging that right now as I write this.

Take time to laugh, to sing, to play. Eat chocolate. Dance. Laugh some more. That’s what they’re saying to me. From a distance, or from right behind me.

My mother collected angels. They’re all angels now. Smiling, dancing, because I am listening to them.

I feel their feathery kisses on my cheek.

~~~

Speaking of kisses, I got sloppy kisses from Cooper at the no-kill shelter where I volunteer.

Cooper is healing from a skin condition and is starting to put on weight. He’s great at fetch!

Cooper just wants to be loved. Not from a distance, but up close and personal. Dogs remind me to enjoy the gift of the present.

Here are a few more dogs from the no kill shelter which rescues exclusively from the high kill county facility.

There aren’t enough homes for them all. Please consider rescuing a homeless dog or cat.

~~~

I wrote the above Friday night. This morning, I read that US airstrike was probably responsible for killing 165 people, mostly students at a school. I mention this because I want to be clear I am not oblivious to this horrible news. I am deeply sorry for the actions of the US government. This is sadder than anything personal that I wrote above, but it feels personal. Iran does not feel so distant today. It’s not enough, but I apologize for the actions of my government which does not feel like my government.

Still, the daffodils bloom. They give me hope.

~~~

For more streams of consciousness,

visit our host Linda Hill

by clicking HERE.

March 3, 2026
by JoAnna 18 Comments

Good News Tuesday for March 3, 2026: Missing Prosthetic Leg Found, Anonymous Donation for Osaka’s Old Water System, and Two Winter Rescues

Missing Prosthetic Leg Found Ten Months Later

Retired nurse Brenda Ogden waited for over a year to get the customized prosthetic leg that allowed her to swim. Her leg had been amputated after a car crash, and she’d only had the prosthetic for one week before it was swept out to sea by a wave that knocked down Brenda and her swim group. Ten months later, Elizabeth Forbes found the prosthetic leg on Yorkshire Beach and returned it to Brenda. The Good News Network has more HERE.

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Anonymous Gift of Gold Bricks Donated to Fix Osaka’s Aging Water System

Osaka, Japan received an anonymous gift of gold bars worth 560m yen (over 3 million dollars) specifically to fix the city’s old water pipe system. Osaka had 92 cases of water pipe leaks under the city last year, some resulting in dangerous sink holes. The Guardian has details HERE.

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Snowplow Driver Rescues Two Dogs During the Blizzard

Snowplow driver Kenny McGowan rescued two dogs running down the highway during the recent blizzard in New York. The sister dogs are now back home thanks to a microchip.

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Lio Saved the Baby Blown into Lake Michigan Harbor

Lio Cundiff didn’t know how to swim, but he jumped into a cold Lake Michigan harbor to save an 8-month-old baby in a stroller that had been blown into the water. You can read details in this article from The Guardian and watch a brief interview with Lio below.

I looked up Lio who is a comedian and works as a server in Chicago. A friend started a successful GoFundMe for Lio’s medical bills.

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Got Good News?

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