Table of contents for February 2021 in Reader's Digest

Man’s best friend may be a dog, but she could also be a cat, a horse, or a pig. Our pets form powerful bonds with us -and, adorably, with other animals too. Reader’s Digest is on the prowl for the most hilarious, touching, and meaningful friendships involving a pet. Submit your story and photos-and videos!-and see terms at rd.com/petpals. We will share the best in many categories of friendship online, in the magazine, and on social media.…

1 Keep Those Paws Out of Your Plants PETS Protective deterrents by design, pine cones can help defend your houseplants from mischievous feline visitors. If your cat can’t help but dig and meddle—or worse—in your ficus, keep a few pine cones in the pot. Cats hate touching them, and they won’t ruin the natural look of the greenery. 2 Save on Printing Costs MONEY Printer ink can become a major business expense in your home office. Depending on the printer, you may be able to refill the cartridge yourself with a bottle of black ink and a small syringe. For most brands, just peel the sticker off the cartridge to reveal five holes; the top three should lead to the ink reservoir. 3 The Magnifying Glass in Your Phone TECH…

YOU THOUGHT I was just brewed leaves and nothing more, but pinkies out, folks, and prepare to be impressed. I’m the most consumed drink in the world next to water. I have launched ships and started wars, and I helped birth your country. The culture of sipping me is steeped in tradition from Japan to Afghanistan. And each version-whether it’s iced black, hot green, or a chai latte-starts with the same amazing plant. That’s right: All tea-my main varieties being black, green, and oolong-is from the same evergreen shrub, Camellia sinensis. (Sorry, but your herbal “teas”-mint, chamomile, raspberry, etc.-are not tea at all.) As a native of the Himalayan foothills, my leaves were most likely originally chewed for a jolt of caffeine. Eventually, people figured out how to brew me.…

Three male dogs are walking down the street when they see a beautiful female poodle. They all scramble to reach her first but end up arriving in front of her at the same time. Aware of her obvious effect on the suitors, she tells them, “The first one who uses the words liver and cheese together in an imaginative sentence can go out with me.” “I love liver and cheese!” the golden retriever blurts out. “Oh, how childish,” says the poodle. The Labrador tries next. “Um. I hate liver and cheese?” “My, my,” says the poodle. “I guess it’s hopeless.” She then turns to the last of the three dogs and says, “How about you, little guy?” The Yorkie, tiny in stature but big in finesse, gives her a smile…

ONE DAY, IF the stars are aligned and you’ve worked hard to do the right thing, you, too, might be lucky enough to receive a lovely compliment like the one Nancy Phelan, of Baraboo, Wisconsin, got a few years back. “When I was visiting my son, his fiancée, and her children,” Nancy wrote to Reader’s Digest, “I made them a specialty of mine: breakfast pizza. After eating several slices, my eight-year- old future grandson leaned back in his chair and proclaimed, ‘This is so good, it makes my tongue dance!’” Alas, life isn’t always so sweet. In fact, we sometimes get treated to a more stinging kind of praise—the backhanded compliment. We asked you for some of the favorite zingers you’ve heard or endured. It’s OK to laugh. We did.…

Word Power ANSWERS 1. rouleau (A) roll of coins. Anand organizes his spare change into rouleaus, but he always forgets to takes them to the bank. 2. ellipse (B) oval. I’m drawing your face as a greenish ellipse- no offense. 3. gyre (A) spiral motion. In a widening gyre, the drone rose over the field. 4. rotund (B) plump. “Rover is getting a bit rotund-how many treats do you feed him?” the veterinarian asked. 5. circuitous (A) winding. The hikers followed the circuitous trail through the forest. 6. bobbin (C) spindle for thread. My greatgrandmother’s vintage sewing machine is in perfect condition, but it’s missing the bobbin. 7. aureole (C) halo. The sun shone behind Diana, making her blond hair a glowing aureole. 8. cupola (C) roof dome. A white marble cupola tops the mosque’s towering minaret. 9.…

The Nicest Places in America I’m an Army officer serving as a staffer for a member of Congress. I’ve been privileged to serve domestically and overseas and visit all 50 states. This story reaffirmed my faith in our country. We’re so much more united than divided. Thank you, Buchanan, Michigan, for showing us that. I can’t wait to visit. -JEREMY CHRISTOPHER Washington, DC Secrets and Lies That Are Harming Your Life The section titled “The Recycling Myth” outlining how less than 10 percent of all plastic in the United States has been recycled over the past 40 years was a blow to this fastidious recycler! That said, we must make recycling more efficient for all products-our beautiful earth is at stake! -MARY SCHELD Green Bay, Wisconsin Why We Should Rest…

SHAMARR ALLEN WAS dozing at home one evening last July when he was startled awake by a TV news item. There had been a shooting among a group of children in the 7th Ward of New Orleans, only a few miles from Allen’s home, and a nine-year-old boy named Devante Bryant had been killed. Allen was horrified and heartbroken. He thought of his own nine-year-old son. Originally from the city’s rough Lower 9th Ward, Allen is one of the most celebrated jazz trumpeters in a city that’s teeming with them. His band, Shamarr Allen & the Underdawgs, has released three albums, and he is a fixture on local television and as a street performer. After seeing the tragic news that morning, it didn’t take long for Allen to hit on…

SEQUOIA “There are bugs and stuff, and they will bite you on your face.” YELLOWSTONE “It’s like a bigger version of Central Park, only with bears.” YOSEMITE “Trees block views, and too many gray rocks.” THE GRAND CANYON “A hole. A very, very large hole.” ISLE ROYALE “No cell service and terrible Wi-Fi.” ARCHES “Narcissistic, selfish people posed right in front of the arch for their personal photo.” DENALI “The bus stops way too much.”—BACKPACKERS.COM…

It’s that time of the year when the flu and the common cold are in full force, often bringing nasty coughs. According to a University of Oxford review, the solution is in your kitchen cupboard: a jar of honey. A spoonful can bring more symptom relief than the usual treatments, such as cough syrup and antibiotics (which are often prescribed even though they’re ineffective for viruses). Honey works its magic by coating and soothing the irritated mucous membranes in the throat. Just don’t give it to infants under 12 months-it may contain microbes that are harmful to them. Breaking Chronic Pain’s Vicious Cycle People living with lasting pain often avoid regular exercise. While understandable, that habit can be counterproductive, as physical inactivity can make pain worse. A Pennsylvania State University…

My feelings about Black History Month are complicated. On the one hand, I deeply appreciate the time to intentionally celebrate the brilliant contributions to American culture and history by people who look like me. But while absolutely worthy of celebration, the stories of African American contributions to our society have become repetitive over the years. Harriet Tubman was so brave. Martin Luther King Jr. was the best orator of all time. George Washington Carver sure was a wiz with peanuts! Year after year, I hear a dutiful recitation of the same familiar facts, and I fear that the result is the mistaken impression that this is the sum total of African Americans’ role in our history. Confining the history of an entire race of people to a 28-day period not…

ONE early January day in 1999, 51-year-old Georgene Martin, née Huber, received a delivery of red roses. Her husband had recently passed away, so the flowers didn’t seem completely out of the blue. But the name on the note that came with them did. The last place she had seen that name, Jerry Zimmer mann, was in her high school yearbook—from 1965. “Dear Georgene,” Jerry’s card read, “I was a classmate of yours, though I don’t believe you knew who I was. I was painfully shy, and you were the prettiest girl I had ever seen.” It was true that Georgene hardly remembered Jerry. Nearly four decades had passed since their paths first crossed in the hallways of Farnsworth Junior High School in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where she still lived. “Though…

Seepage 118. Quick Crossword ACROSS 4. BABYCAKES 6. HONEY 8. ANGEL 9. MUFFIN 10. DEAREST DOWN 1. SUGARLIPS 2. DARLING 3. LOVE 5. SNOOKUMS 7. BABE Four in a Row Word Ladder Saga, sage, page, pate, path, math, myth Groundhog Day 50 percent (half of 30 percent plus half of 70 percent) Caption Contest What’s your clever description for this picture? Submit your funniest line at RD.COM/CAPTIONCONTEST. Winners will appear in a future Photo Finish (PAGE 124). What’s Next? A. from left to right, the number of sides on the outer shape decreases by two, the number on the middle shape increases by one, and the inner shape alternates between an octagon and a pentagon.…

When it comes to iconic American road trips, there are plenty of avenues worth exploring. Have you driven cross-country, from sea to shining sea? Did you have some fun on Highway 101 or get your kicks on Route 66? Maybe you took a memorable journey home for the holidays with an unexpected copilot. Whatever your great road trip story, go to rd.com/roadtrips to submit it and see terms, and it might make it into a future Reader’s Digest feature.…

DANIELLE PAYTON’S METABOLISM was a mystery for most of her adult life. When she was 18, she weighed 165 pounds, which made little sense to the five-foot-four-inch high school shot put champ. “I was a very healthy eater-coming from a family of pescatarians and vegetarians-and an athlete, and I couldn’t lose a single pound,” says Payton. Just before college, she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which causes imbalances in the hormones that regulate both the reproductive system and metabolism. That solved part of the mystery-women with PCOS are prone to weight gain. But Payton continued to struggle. By the time she turned 24, she weighed 209 pounds and had developed prediabetes. Her search for a solution became more focused and urgent. “I had to find food and exercise…

The international students at the United World Colleges campus in New Mexico were among the scores of people who couldn’t get back home after COVID-19 hit last year. Fortunately, the farmers at the nearby and aptly named Bueno Para Todos (“Good For All”) farm, where some of the students had been helping out, had a plan. When they learned that their volunteers were stranded, they hired a crew of un employed construction workers to build a sunny space for the handful of young women from Egypt, Jordan, Cayman Islands, Niger, and Nigeria to live. Says director Yvonne Sandoval, “We are glad that we could open our doors and our land to these beautiful young people. We look forward to when we will be able to open the farm to everyone.…

FROM WASHINGTONPOST.COM I’m going to tell you a story,” I tell my class of high school seniors. All eyes look up. Nothing quiets a chatty group of teenagers faster and causes them to put down their phones more effectively than the promise of a story. “It’s a tale about love. And heart break.” I pause for dramatic effect. “And humiliation.” Their eyes widen. I add the clincher. “Mine.” Now I have them. This is a story I’ve told every February since I started teaching in 1999. Its power lies, I think, in how it changes the way my students see me. Gone temporarily is whatever omnipotence I command as their teacher. Left behind is an 11-year-old girl whose feelings are crushed-and each of them is outraged by the brutality of…

1. Faulty memories can give self-esteem an artificial leg up. One of my favorite demonstrations comes from a study of university students asked to remember their high school grades. The researchers had the students’ high school transcripts for cross-checking, so there was no reason to lie. Nevertheless, the students were substantially better at remembering their good grades than the bad ones. The A’s and B’s generally stuck in their memories very well, whereas the D’s and F’s tended to be recalled as slightly higher grades. In other words, what we remember fits by and large with reality, but the details can get skewed in ways that make us feel better about ourselves: smarter, kinder, more hardworking. 2. They help us recognize our core values. For example, studies show that liberals…

1. rouleau n. (roo-'lo) A roll of coins. B mushroom cap. C crystal ball. 2. ellipse n. (ih-'lips) A crater. B oval. C revolution. 3. gyre n. ('jy-er) A spiral motion. B ring of fire. C pirouette. 4. rotund adj. (roh-'tund) A curled. B plump. C rotating. 5. circuitous adj. (ser-'kew-uh-tuss) A winding. B surrounded. C eclipsed. 6. bobbin n. ('bah-bin) A life preserver. B spare tire. C spindle for thread. 7. aureole n. ('or-ee-ohl) A pearl. B seed. C halo. 8. cupola n. ('kyew-puh-luh) A bald spot. B espresso mug. C roof dome. 9. roundelay n. ('rown-duh-lay) A traffic circle. B song with a refrain. C barber pole. 10. chapati n. (chuh-'pah-tee) A flatbread. B eye patch. C tasseled belt. 11. hora n. ('hor-uh) A clockface. B circular folk dance C burial mound. 12. maelstrom n. ('mayl-strum) A eye of a…