Table of contents for July/August 2019 in Reader's Digest

IN SECOND grade, my son, Neil, had to bring a food to class that represented his “cultural heritage.” As a mutt with forgotten Anglo roots, I had nothing to put forward. But Susan sure did. She brought her hard-boiled eggs pickled in beets. No, Susan wasn’t raised in a Rust Belt bar—or Moe’s Tavern from The Simpsons, where a jar of pickled eggs behind the bar is a recurring source of comic relief. Instead, she inherited the snack from her sweet, determined mother, Ruth, who’d been raised Pennsylvania Dutch near the Gettysburg battlefields. There, beet-pickled eggs were a part of her family’s prerefrigeration existence, as they had been for Hessian soldiers centuries before. Dropping Grandma’s ancient snack food into 21st-century suburban California, however, caused Neil’s snarky eight-year-old classmates to react…

ON A STEAMY July day in Bayonet Point, Florida, Gene Work and his brother-in-law, Mark Rouco, were resodding Gene’s yard. It had grown brown and patchy in the heat, and the homeowners’ association had threatened to impose a hefty fine if the situation wasn’t remedied. The new sod was sitting in the driveway on four pallets, but the job was slow-going. Gene, then 40, wasn’t feeling right. He went inside to take a break and collapsed on the couch, clutching his chest. His wife, Melissa Work, called 911 quickly. Even though he was staring down death, Gene had one thing on his mind: that lawn. If the sod wasn’t put down that day, it would die. “While he was having his heart attack, literally in and out of consciousness, he…

HEAT CAN MAKE YOUR BRAIN SLUGGISH If you find it hard to get your work done during the dog days of summer, blame the heat. In a Harvard University study, 20 students who lived in a dormitory with no air-conditioning had slower reaction times, 13 percent lower performance on basic arithmetic tests, and a nearly 10 percent reduction in the number of correct responses per minute compared with students who lived in an air-conditioned building. Take a Break, Live Longer In a 40-year study of 1,222 men, half the participants received advice to lose weight, exercise, and give up smoking. Compared with the men who weren’t counseled, this group of men reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease, but their death rate was higher—perhaps because making these changes caused stress. Within…

Straining to hear each day, even when using powerful hearing aids? Feeling frustrated and sometimes even exhausted from listening? Whether it happens suddenly or gradually over time, hearing loss can affect you physically and emotionally. Cochlear implants work differently than hearing aids. Rather than amplifying sound, they use state-of-the-art electronic components and software to help provide access to the sounds you’ve been missing. Dr. Thomas Roland, a cochlear implant surgeon and medical advisor to Cochlear, the world leader in cochlear implants, answers questions about cochlear implants and how they are different from hearing aids. Q: How are cochlear implants different than hearing aids? A: Hearing aids help many people by making the sounds they hear louder. Unfortunately as hearing loss progresses, sounds need to not only be made louder but…

How to Survive Anything After reading about how to survive a bad haircut, I was reminded of a quip my father used to say: What’s the difference between a bad haircut and a good haircut? Two weeks. —FRED E. BAUER Loveland, Ohio Mister Manners suggests that the proper response after passing gas is “Pardon me.” But a study from the University of Exeter found that being exposed to the gas released in flatulence may help stave off heart attacks, strokes, and dementia. Perhaps the correct response should be “You’re welcome.” —RICH KILIAN Garrettsville, Ohio My Coma Miracle I am very curious to learn what happened to the truck driver who caused this accident. The story says a man stopped the fleeing truck after it ran over the woman on the…

You know how sometimes your brain can’t conjure up a really simple word but it somehow constructs an inspired substitution? Here’s one from @Bramptonmel: “My 17-year-old child forgot the word foal and called it a horse puppy instead.” Twitter is filled with these semiprecious gems. Try to deduce these elusive words (answers below): 1. A really REALLY wet salad. —@wesleymallin 2. How-far machine. —@hardleygirl (SUSAN LONG) 3. One of the metal things with four stabby fingers. —@laurie_winkless 4. Arctic cabbage. —@GreyAreaUK 5. Meat pickle. —@AlistairDove ANSWERS: 1. SOUP, 2. TAPE MEASURE, 3. FORK, 4. ICEBERG LETTUCE, 5. HOTDOG…

IF YOU’RE SEEING these three letters on products ranging from capsules to cappuccinos, along with enticing claims that CBD relieves stress, chronic pain, and more, you may wonder whether this new health craze is for real. You might also wonder why some CBD products are labeled with what looks like a marijuana leaf. Here’s what you need to know before you try it. 1 It’s not the same thing as medical marijuana. CBD is short for cannabidiol, which is found in cannabis plants. Most of the CBD products for sale nationwide are made from hemp, a type of cannabis that is a botanical cousin to marijuana. CBD won’t make you high—tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the substance that does that, and there is very little if any of it in hemp. (The…

Mikey Lythcott’s first Facebook post, at 4:36 a.m. Bali time, set off a chain reaction of 516 concerned posts from friends around the world that eventually led to his rescue. Here are a few: 4:45 A.M. PRAGUE Leah Schlossman Dude!!!!! Are you OK? 4:46 A.M. POCONO MOUNTAINS, PENNSYLVANIA Aimee Spevak I have a pin drop of Michael’s location. 4:47 A.M. RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA Marcie Dean Corral Here is Tourist Police info: [posts it] 4:48 A.M. CANADA Jackie Klobucar Tried one number so far but won’t let me call. 4:49 A.M. LAS VEGAS Kaitlin Haggard Here are Indonesian police numbers by district: [posts a link] 4:53 A.M. RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA Josh Hofer Called the same number. I couldn’t communicate with the person at all. He said, “No English.” I asked if…

Some of the heart and soul in Mount Vernon: (top, from left) Enam Chowdhury, chef at the Chophouse on Bankhead, one of the hot spots on the town square; Tom Wilkinson, retired professor and native son; (middle) Karen Chowdhury, partner in the Chophouse; Lauren Lewis, manager at the renovated general store M.L. Edwards & Co.; (bottom) Teresia Wims, mayor; Henry Ruelas, construction whiz behind many renovations in town THEY SAY EVERYTHING is bigger in Texas. While that may be true, some of the best things in Texas are quite small. Case in point: tiny Mount Vernon, a town of just under 3,000 people tucked in the state’s northeast corner, about 100 miles from Dallas. You probably haven’t heard of it, unless maybe you like to fish for bass and know…

1. starboard n. ('star-berd) A ship’s right side. B ship’s left side. C ship’s front. 2. transpose v. (trans-'pohz) A cut straight across. B turn sharply. C move to another place. 3. nether adj. ('neh-ther) A down low. B overhead. C spread out. 4. anterior adj. (an-'teer-ee-er) A at the midpoint. B behind. C in the front. 5. juxtapose v. ('juhk-stuh-pohz) A lay on top. B put side by side. C encircle. 6. sinistral adj. ('sih-nih-struhl) A from the south. B underground. C left-handed. 7. periphery n. (puh-'rih-fuh-ree) A great distance. B close range. C outer edges. 8. apex n. ('ay-peks) A clockwise motion. B uppermost point. C needle on a compass. 9. aweigh adj. (uh-'way) A over the side. B off the bottom. C trailing behind. 10. egress n. ('ee-gress) A entrance. B exit. C shortcut. 11. recede v. (rih-'seed)…

TWENTY YEARS AGO, 15 wooden crosses appeared on a hill overlooking Columbine High School, in Littleton, Colorado. It was April 28, 1999, eight days after a pair of students had shot and killed 12 of their classmates and a teacher before killing themselves. At first, the crosses seemed to be part miracle, part mystery. Before long, their creator stepped forward: Greg Zanis, a carpenter from Sugar Grove, Illinois, who had driven them nearly 1,000 miles to Colorado. Since Columbine, Zanis has built and delivered more than 26,000 crosses—Stars of David and crescent moons, too—to communities across America grieving in the wake of violence, natural disasters, and other catastrophes. He brought them to Paradise, California, after wildfires wiped out most of the town; Pittsburgh, where 11 worshippers were killed in a…

CHRIS KENT, age 56, Sevierville, Tennessee Your 327.5-pound watermelon broke the fair’s record last year. How did you even get it to the fair in one piece? I used four guys and a tarp made with special handles. We rolled the watermelon onto one side, put the tarp underneath it, and rolled it back onto the other side. Then everybody grabbed a corner, and we slid it into the back of my hatchback car. You must be quite the sight on the road. We’ll be driving on the interstate and people will pull up right beside us—it’s borderline dangerous. My wife takes a piece of paper and writes down the weight because people always mouth “How much?” and you just hold up the paper to tell them. Do you use…

My Riveting Lecture While putting myself through college, I worked several summers as the rifle-range instructor at a Boy Scout camp. Since these were true rifles, seriousness and safety were the rule. On the first day of camp, after giving a stern-faced 20-minute lecture on correct shooting procedure, I turned to my campers with a smug sense of a job well done and asked whether there were any questions. At the ready to impart more knowledge, I called on the Scout in back with the raised hand. His question? “Are those the same shoes you wore last year?” —Wayne Sanders II AKRON, OHIO Thank You for Your Service A group of uniformed servicemen was exiting a restaurant as I entered with a group of teacher friends wearing our school shirts.…

SAY YOU WERE to stroll through a quintessential American landscape one summer morning, looking across vast fields of shimmering, swaying cornstalks a dozen feet tall. Might you be tempted to sneak down into a row and swipe an ear so that you could sink your teeth into my sweet, juicy kernels right then and there? If so, I’d almost certainly disappoint you. The bitter truth is that less than 1 percent of what’s grown in America is sweet corn. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, biting into me fresh from the field would be like biting into a raw potato. Welcome to my world—our world—dominated by tough, inedible field corn. And I do mean my world. Even with minimal contribution from the buttery kernels that you savor come summertime, I…

1 Keep Soda Cold FOOD Wrap soft drink cans or bottles with Bubble Wrap to keep beverages refreshingly cold on hot summer days. Do the same for packages of frozen or chilled picnic foods. Even ice cream will stay firm longer if you wrap it before you leave the house. 2 Handle Car Lights with Care AUTO When changing exterior light bulbs in your car, watch your hands. Many automobiles use halogen bulbs, which can get extremely hot. Hold them with gloved hands or a paper towel. That will also keep the glass free from the oils on your skin, which can create an uneven heat transfer in a bulb and cause it to fail prematurely. If you do accidentally touch the glass on a new bulb, clean it with…

When the officer stopped in front of me during inspection, I sharply opened the chamber of my rifle and thrust it into his hands. He glanced into the chamber and looked surprised. Inside was a smashed cockroach. I figured this meant trouble, and it did. Nodding to the late bug, the officer announced, “Legs improperly aligned—six demerits.” —DENNIS DEPCIK Buffalo Grove, Illinois My medical unit kept me busy filing reports, many of which clearly didn’t apply to us. Here’s one example: “Personnel Trained for B-52 Weapons System.” When the inspector general learned of this, he ordered us to submit a monthly “Report of Unnecessary Reports.” Among the first reports to make that list: the “Report of Unnecessary Reports.” —SGT. RICHARD WEISER Erie, Pennsylvania It was 1943—the height of World War…

Notes for Beach Readers People who read books are so dumb. Like, the pages are literally numbered and in order. —@radtoria “Zyzzyva, zyxst, zyxt …” —Noah Webster’s last words —@meganamram If anyone is interested, I’ll be signing books tomorrow at Barnes & Noble from 6:00 p.m. until I get escorted out by security. —@joefrog1 What do you get when you mix alcohol and literature? Tequila Mockingbird, F. Scotch Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway. —@Sophia_Hoffman I’m gonna write a book about the difficulties of watching Pride and Prejudice dubbed into French. It will be called l’Austen Translation. —@greg_ jenner People found guilty of not using punctuation deserve the longest sentence possible. —@sixthformpoet…

FROM SLATE.COM ON JANUARY 15, 2009, the crew of US Airways Flight 1549 experienced a never-in-a-lifetime event. Less than two minutes after takeoff, some Canada geese found their way into the airplane’s two engines and brought them to a grinding halt. Over the next three and a half minutes, the crew managed to identify the problem, decide what to do about it, and execute what a former National Transportation Safety Board member called “the most successful ditching in aviation history.” How did the crew begin this historic performance? By uttering the same two words that many of us come up with in a crisis: “Oh crap.” Actually, the phrase was a bit more profane, but you get the idea. We all experience “oh crap” moments. Running into the person you…