Have you ever had invasion of ants on your kitchen counter or in the bathroom? I tried different methods to get rid of them, however every winter, when it rains, they are back. I decided to write about ants after coming across an article in the July 25, 2020 publication of Popular Science, “Ants could help us beat future pandemics”, written by Michael Schulson. What surprised me was that scientists have been studying how deadly pathogens affect ant colonies, even before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The article is based on the research done by many scientists. One of them is Natalie Stroeymeyt from the University of Bristol in the UK. According to her, “Human public health departments are only a couple of centuries old, while ant societies have been evolving for millions of years”. “It’s very rare to find a colony collapsing under the weight of a pathogen,” Stroeymeyt writes. “We know that their mechanisms are extremely effective.” Can we learn from ants or stubbornly try on our own?

We recently spent a weekend relaxing at home. While I was reading a newspaper, my wife Elfa was checking emails on her iPad. Suddenly she exclaimed a few times, “I do not believe it!” In this case it was a video of a cat who fell into a pool. Seeing the cat, a dog jumped in and carried the cat to safety on his (or her) back. There are many other circumstances or events in our lives which can lead to these expressions. I thought about it when a friend sent an email titled, “Fascinating Errors of Judgement”. After reading it, I decided to share some of the quotes with you, with my title “I Do Not Believe It”.

6. ”Television won’t last because people will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.”
Darryl Zanuck, movie producer, 20th Century Fox, 1946.

7. ”I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM, 1943.

8. ”Reagan doesn’t have that presidential look.”
United Artists executive after rejecting Reagan as lead in the 1964 film “The Best Man”.

9. ”We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”
Deca Recording Company on declining to sign the Beatles, 1962.

10. ”The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty – a fad.”
The President of Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford’s lawyers not to invest in the Ford Motor Co., 1903

On Sunday afternoon, our friend Jazz and his son Danny came for a visit. I wrote about Danny a few weeks ago. On the previous visit, Danny asked me a question, “Do plants think?” I told him that I would write about this subject in my weekly “Encounters”. His immediate response was – “You can make your next book, answering my questions”. Danny is eight. We became friends with his father about five years ago through a chance meeting and share a love of photography. Jazz is divorced, lives in Palo Alto and shares custody of his son. In the past, he would come on the weekends when Danny was with his mother, and we went for walks, having conversations like father and son (Jazz is forty).

On the way home, I was using my small camera to bring Danny’s attention to the trees and flowers. We talked about intricate designs on the tree trunks; how the annual flowers after fading, away drop seeds in the ground to return the following year; how bees collect pollen, and the only way to show all of this to others was to use a photo camera. How a powerful microscope can see deeper than seeds and to capture this we need special cameras. During these discussions Danny’s interest for photography grew. He was right – every child needs a “boss”, a teacher who will guide a child’s natural interests.

Whenever I tell someone that my wife Elfa tolerated me for fifty-three years, some wonder how that is possible. Well, of course, I am joking. Though it probably was not easy. After all, we are together most of the time. Not too many couples can claim that not only they lived together for over half of the century, but they also worked together. In September, we are going to celebrate 35 years since we started our mortgage brokerage company – Pacific Bay Financial. This fact by itself is an incredible achievement in our long marriage. Our secret – we do everything together, which includes of course, taking vacations.

After not finding what we were looking for, we decided to change direction. I called a friend who lives in Carmel. Turns out that there were many good restaurants with outside seating. Elfa was able to find accommodations at a small Colonial Terrace Hotel located away from the tourist drag — Ocean Avenue. We stayed a block away from the ocean and fell asleep under the roaring sounds of the waves. No wonder I was able to catch up on my lack of sleep. It also helped that Max stayed in the city with his dog sitter. As my friend told me, the restaurants were open. Most of them built street sitting arrangements; some used the building roofs for a patio. Most stores and art galleries were open as well, and though the majority of the visitors wore face masks, our visit felt like a déjà vu, since we’ve visited this jewel by the sea many times. Can San Francisco and other cities follow the same protocol and enjoy a semi-normal protected life? Years ago, we celebrated our wedding anniversary as tourists in Downtown San Francisco. I hope it will not take long for our beautiful city to become tourist attraction again.

“Acts of kindness may not be that random after all. Science says being kind pays off.” This is the opening sentence from the article which appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle on Friday, July 3, 2020, titled “Science says it makes us both happier, healthier” written by Seth Borenstein. It is based on the forthcoming book, “The Kindness of Strangers” by U.S. San Diego psychologist Michael McCullough. According to the author, “Kindness is as bred in our bones as our anger or our lust or our grief or as desire for revenge.” I found this list fascinating. How can kindness in our bones coincide with the desire for revenge? As it often happens in my life, I found the answer in the Torah, where being kind to strangers was mentioned at least 36 times. “The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love them as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19:34). It also says in Leviticus (19:18), “You shall not take revenge.” At the same in the Book of Numbers (31:1-3), “Hashem spoke to Moses saying: Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Children of Israel.”

Staying home during the pandemic gives us plenty of opportunities for kindness. How about calling some of your friends, who might feel lonely, or any other small acts of kindness?

One of the simplest expressions of kindness can be a smile. Practice smiling to yourself first thing in the morning while looking into the mirror, and then keep smiling to others, even if your face is covered with a mask.