Etc...

Just keep it in your pouch

Did you know that kangaroos can bark like a dog? Because they can, Lulu is about to be honored with an award for valor by Australia's Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals (RSPCA). As we pick up the story, the young 'roo had just found her adoptive owner, Len Richards, face down on the ground and unresponsive after a falling tree limb hit him in the head on his farm in Victoria state. For 15 minutes Lulu stood over him and arfed and woofed - until others in the family came to investigate. Richards was hospitalized but now is back on his feet. The RSPCA said this award will be a first; its previous honors mostly - um - have gone to the dogs.

Since travel to many other areas of the world remains a concern, many Americans say they expect to vacation at home this year. And since inevitably that will mean millions of visits to national parks, the congressionally chartered National Parks Foundation has issued its choices for 11 "unique summer experiences" it says can be found only in those places. The list:
Best place to watch a sunrise - Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park, Maine
Best photo opportunity - Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho
Best beach - Olympic National Park, Washington State
Best "watering hole" - Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Best place to take a date - Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, Virginia
Best access to breathtaking beauty - Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Best proud moment - Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, Alabama
Best place to see fossils - Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
Best stargazing - Glacier National Park, Montana
Best place to experience goosebumps - Antietam National Battlefield, Maryland
Best setting for a wedding - Chapel at Yosemite National Park, California