It wasn’t all bad
■ At 81 years old, best friends Sandy Hazelip and Ellie Hamby have set out to travel the world in 80 days—a tribute to Jules Verne’s classic adventure novel. Even with total knee replacements, they’ll visit seven continents, nine wonders of the world, and 18 countries. Hazelip and Hamby, who became fast friends while on a trip to Zambia 20 years ago, say they’re making good progress: They’ve already set foot on Antarctica and flown over Mount Everest. “Don’t sit in that chair and waste away,” Hazelip said. “If you don’t use it, you lose it.”
■ Roots musician Cedric Watson grew up listening to relatives speak Kouri-Vini, a blend of African languages and French that, with fewer than 6,000 speakers left, was at risk of being forgotten. As an adult, he set out to preserve the endangered language, which emerged when West African slaves in Louisiana needed to communicate across tribes. Watson, a Grammynominated multi-instrumentalist, performs Kouri-Vini songs around the world, and his next album will be recorded almost entirely in the language. He’s a part of a new generation of speakers who host TV shows, write books, and teach online classes to promote Creole culture. “The stories of Kouri-Vini speakers must be kept alive,” said Oliver Mayeux, a University of Cambridge linguist.
■ Riley Ramirez and Cole White set out earlier this month on a 10-day trek through the mountains east of Los Angeles. Their parents grew worried when their tracking app lost contact with the teenagers in a powerful storm. San Bernardino police sent a helicopter to the boys’ last known location, and followed their foot tracks until they reached a battered tent. Miraculously, Ramirez and White suffered only minor hypothermia in three nights’ struggle to stay warm. “I’ve been doing search and rescue for the last 18 years,” said Sgt. John Scalise. “And I can tell you these kids should have been dead.”