It wasn’t all bad
■■Curtis Kimball, a chef whose pop-up dessert stand was once well-known on San Francisco streets, hung up flyers inviting residents to a weekend pancake party. “My wife says I’m getting weird,” read the flyers from Kimball, who had grown increasingly reclusive during the pandemic. “So I’m making pancakes.” Dozens of guests arrived, bringing along homemade lemon curd, honey, and other gifts. A follow-up party was an even bigger hit, with residents downing 700 flapjacks. Kimball hopes the pancake-day will become a tradition and catch on in cities across the country.
■■While watching Sacramento’s local news one day in December, Randy Waites noticed that a man who briefly appeared in a story shared his last name. Waites, whose father had left when he was only a few months old, asked his two teenage daughters to do some internet sleuthing. The family tracked down the man from the clip, Edward Waites, who lived in Anaheim, Calif., and has been visiting Sacramento. The two met in person and compared childhood histories, which confirmed that they were indeed brothers, and shared a surprising number of traits:
“We both drive Harley-Davidsons, and we both love sourdough bread and fishing,” Randy said.
■■In 2020, a group of New Hampshire middle schoolers packed a small boat full of photos, acorns, and other local ephemera. Then they equipped the vessel with a tracker and launched it into the ocean.
This month, 8,300 miles across the Atlantic, a Norwegian student discovered the boat and dragged it to his school. It was missing a hull and covered in barnacles, but the cargo hold was still intact. “When you’re sending it out, you have no idea where it’s going to end up,” said Cassie Stymiest, who helped organize the project. “But these kids put their hopes and wishes into it, and I tend to think that helps.”