Source: YouTube

1.   A 93-year-old from Ohio named Joy Ryan has now been to all 63 of America’s National Parks.

Her grandson started taking her because she was 85 and had never seen the ocean, or even a mountain before.  Their final trip was to the National Park of American Samoa.  They crossed it off their list last week.  (Here’s a photo.)

 

 

 

2.  A type of bird called an ivory-billed woodpecker was thought to be extinct.  But a group of researchers just spotted one on a wildlife camera they set up near a trail in Louisiana.  The last confirmed sighting was way back in 1944.

 

3.  I could see this becoming a trend:  A guy who recently got married in Philadelphia is going viral, because he danced with his dog . . . and called it a “father-DOGter” dance.  (Here’s the video.)

 

4.  A former soldier from Nepal lost both legs to an I.E.D. in Afghanistan 13 years ago . . . but just made history by scaling Mount Everest.  He used special prosthetics with spikes to help him climb.  He made it to the top last Friday.

He says he went into a deep depression after the injury and started drinking a lot.  But then he decided to keep living . . . went skydiving . . . got involved in Paralympic sports . . . and started climbing mountains.

He’s the first person to climb Everest after losing both legs above the knee.  His motto is nothing’s impossible, you just have to adapt.

Now he’s planning to go back to Afghanistan to the spot where he lost his legs, so he can say THANK YOU.  He says he never would have climbed Everest if it hadn’t happened, adding, quote, “Whatever happens, it happens for good.”

 

(Here’s a photo, and here’s a recent interview.