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The rate of childhood obesity in the U. S. has tripled over the past 50 years. But what this trend means for children's long-term health, and what to do about it (if anything), is not so clear.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) made waves this year by recommending that doctors put obese kids as young as two years old on intensive, family-oriented lifestyle and behavior plans. This advice marks a shift from the organization's previous stance of "watch and wait, " and it reflects the AAP's belief that obesity is a disease and the group's adoption of a more proactive position on childhood obesity.

Yet the lifestyle programs the AAP recommends are expensive, inaccessible to most children and hard to maintain — and the guidelines acknowledge these barriers. Few weight-loss drugs have been approved for older children, although many are used off-label. And surgery, while becoming more common, has inherent risks and few long-term safety data — it could, for instance, cause nutritional deficits in growing children. Furthermore, it's not clear whether interventions in youngsters help to improve health or merely add to the stigma overweight kids face from a fat-phobic society. This stigma can lead to mental health problems and eating disorders.

Rather than fixating on numbers on a scale, the U. S. and countries with similar trends should focus on an underlying truth: we need to invest in more and safer places for children to play where they can move and run around, climb and jump, ride and skate. 

In 2020 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found, unsurprisingly, that kids' sports participation increases with their parents' incomes: about 70 percent of kids whose families earn more than $105, 000 a year participate in sports, but only 51 percent of middle-class kids and 31 percent of children at or below the poverty line do. This disparity hurts people of color the most. More than 60 percent of white children, for instance, participate in athletics, but only 42 percent of Black children and 47 percent of Hispanic children do. Experts blame these problems on the privatization of sports—as public investment in school-based athletics dwindles, expensive private leagues have grown, leaving many kids out.

According to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services' Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, children between ages six and 17 should get at least an hour of moderate to intense physical activity every day. Yet only 21 to 28 percent of U. S. kids meet this target, two government-sponsored surveys found. The nonprofit Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance evaluates physical activity in American children, and in 2022 the group gave the U. S. a grade of D–.

Why is it so hard to get kids moving? In addition to fewer opportunities at school, researchers cite increased screen time, changing norms around letting kids play outdoors unsupervised, and a lack of safe places for them to play outside the home. 

New York City, for example, had 2, 067 public playgrounds as of 2019 — a "meager" amount for its large population, according to a report from the city comptroller — and inspectors found hazardous equipment at one quarter of them. In Los Angeles in 2015, only 33 percent of youths lived within walking distance of a park, according to the L. A. Neighborhood Land Trust. Lower-income neighborhoods tend to have the fewest public play spaces, despite often having a high population density. .

Kids everywhere need more places to play: trails, skate parks and climbing walls, gardens and ball fields, bike paths and basketball courts. Vigorous public funding to build and keep up these areas is crucial, but other options such as shared-use agreements can make unused spaces available to the public. 

Zion National Park in Utah has plenty of trails, but Angels Landing may be the most breathtaking. Picture this. You begin the hike on the wide and well-maintained West Rim Trail. It follows the river and then crosses the bottom of the canyon, surrounded by 270-million-year-old layers of rock. Relaxing, right? Just wait for it. The trail then starts to climb via a series of switchbacks (急转弯) leading up the side of the mountain. Then more switchbacks: 21 tighter turns, called "Walter's Wiggles, " where elevation levels rapidly increase. Your heartbeat is probably rapidly increasing at this point, too.

On top of Walter's Wiggles, you can stop for a stunning view (perhaps with a marriage proposal) and a restroom stop while you contemplate (仔细考虑) the final stretch of the hike. If you're afraid of heights, it's best to turn back now. The last stretch is the real test of bravery.

The last half mile of the hike is what really ranks it as one of the nation's most dangerous. Angels Landing itself is a fin-like formation jutting（突出）1, 500 feet out of the canyon, and this is where you make the final 500-foot climb. Guardrails and chains bolted（拴住）into the cliff help you keep from tumbling over the extremely steep ledge. You're literally living on the edge, and you don't want to trust the "angels" down there to catch you. Once you reach the top, however, it'll all be worth it: 360-degree views of the canyon make a great backdrop for kicking back and having a meal before you come back down the way you came.

Angels Landing might be dangerous, but thankfully, not too many people have had fatal falls. According to the park website, seven people have died in the 100 years the park has existed. Still, this is a very vigorous hike. If you're out of shape, bringing young children along, feel ill or prone to fainting, or are just plain afraid of heights, opt for an easier trail.

Angel's Landing is a great hike for most of the year, besides the cold winter months when the trails could become dangerously slippery. Summer is the most popular time of year — and therefore the most crowded — but it can also get extremely hot, so opt for an early morning hike while the temperatures are still mild.

Sure, it's dangerous, but there's a reason this is one of Zion ‘s most popular hikes. If you're up for the challenge, Angels Landing will definitely deliver rewards.

This article first appeared on Curiosity. com. 

Persistently engaging in negative thinking patterns may raise the risk of Alzheimer's disease, finds a new UCL-led study.

In the study of people aged over 55, published in Alzheimer's & Dementia, researchers found ‘repetitive negative thinking' (RNT) is linked to subsequent cognitive decline as well as the deposition (沉积) of harmful brain proteins linked to Alzheimer's.

Lead author Dr Natalie Marchant (UCL Psychiatry) said: "Depression and anxiety in mid-life and old age are already known to be risk factors for dementia（痴呆）. Here, we found that certain thinking patterns implicated in depression and anxiety could be an underlying reason why people with those disorders are more likely to develop dementia.

"We hope that our findings could be used to develop strategies to lower people's risk of dementia by helping them to reduce their negative thinking patterns. "

For the Alzheimer's Society-supported study, the research team from UCL, INSERM and McGill University studied 292 people over the age of 55 who were part of the PREVENT-AD cohort study, and a further 68 people from the IMAP+ cohort.

Over a period of two years, the study participants responded to questions about how they typically think about negative experiences, focusing on RNT patterns like rumination (沉思) about the past and worry about the future. The participants also completed measures of depression and anxiety symptoms. 

Their cognitive function was assessed, measuring memory, attention, spatial cognition, and language. Some (113) of the participants also underwent PET brain scans, measuring deposits of tau and amyloid, two proteins which cause the most common type of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, when they build up in the brain.

The researchers found that people who exhibited higher RNT patterns experienced more cognitive decline over a four-year period, and declines in memory (which is among the earlier signs of Alzheimer's disease), and they were more likely to have amyloid and tau deposits in their brain.

"We propose that repetitive negative thinking may be a new risk factor for dementia as it could contribute to dementia in a unique way, " said Dr Marchant.

The researchers suggest that RNT may contribute to Alzheimer's risk via its impact on indicators of stress such as high blood pressure, as other studies have found that physiological stress can contribute to amyloid and tau deposition.

Co-author Dr Gael Chételat commented: "Our thoughts can have a biological impact on our physical health, which might be positive or negative. Mental training practices such as meditation might help promoting positive- while down-regulating negative-associated mental schemes.

"Looking after your mental health is important, and it should be a major public health priority, as it's not only important for people's health and well-being in the short term, but it could also impact your eventual risk of dementia. "

Han Guorui, a folk artist specializing in making Dongming grain pictures, is generally busy in autumn as he needs to collect materials for his work. This year, he has been even busier, as he has attended fairs to demonstrate his skills and promote grain art. 

The grain pictures, which take their name from Dongming county in Heze, Shandong province, are a traditional folk craft with a history of more than 200 years. The practice was listed as a provincial intangible cultural heritage(非物质文化遗产) in 2016 by the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism. 

After being treated to prevent decay and insect infestation, grains, grass and vegetable seeds are glued together to form a picture. 

"We use the different shapes and colors of grains and seeds, which are all collected from the field, " says Han. 

Born in Dongming, a county along the banks of the Yellow River, he attended a regional fair in mid-October. His pictures attracted many children who asked questions, such as, "will these seeds sprout", and "can these grains be eaten?"

Han answered the children's questions while showing them how to use grains and seeds to make a picture.

"Only now, when food is sufficient, can people make a picture with surplus grain, " he says. 

To make pictures that more people like, Han works in the style of Chinese ink and Western oil paintings. Now his grain pictures are not only sold in cities across China, but also to overseas markets, including some European countries, South Korea and Japan, he says. 

"Grain pictures have become a cultural product that is helping to enrich farmers living on the Yellow River plain, " says Han. 

The Yellow River, the country's second longest, is considered the cradle of Chinese civilization. For thousands of years, the people living along its banks have nurtured rich and vibrant cultures that have endured to this day.

To give people the opportunity to familiarize themselves with its rich culture and plentiful products, Shandong province has organized fairs named after the river throughout the year, with some events held in communities to involve more people. 

At the fairs, intangible cultural heritage items, handicrafts, local delicacies, performances, and agricultural products are available. 

At one fair in a community in Jinan, the capital city of Shandong, in late October, more than 10 types of handicrafts were on show, including gourd-carving, paper-cutting, textiles and hemp rope weaving. 

"The fair builds a bridge between intangible cultural heritage producers and consumers. Using items that are embodied with traditional culture is a good way to pass on culture, " says Sun Xicai, deputy director of Jinan Folk Literature and Art Association. 

At the fair, 60-something Yu Shaoqing, who was selling animal-shaped textile products, attracted a lot of buyers. 

"Many young people show an interest in my products. They buy them to decorate their rooms and cars, " says Yu. 

Yu, who worked in embroidery design before retiring, designs her products, which take the shape of animals like tigers, rabbits and ducks. Currently, she is working on a dragon design for next year to welcome the Year of the Dragon. 

Acupuncture（针灸）, an ancient Chinese medical practice, has been the remedy for countless patients for thousands of years. Before modern medicine came to life, ancient Chinese used stone tools to 1  pain. Over time, this primitive practice 2  evolved into a comprehensive and profound medical system and 3  the root of acupuncture. 

Acupuncture is a treatment that aims to 4 the body's self-regulating functions. Its therapeutic principles are in line with the 5 concepts of traditional Chinese medicine, which emphasizes all-inclusive treatment, meridian（经络） adjustment, balance of bodily functions and overall physiological well-being.

Practices can 6 in forms, including needle insertion, cupping and scraping. Needle insertion, the most common method, is 7 by inserting hair-thin needles into meridians, 8 specific points on the body that 9 vital energy（the qi). Practitioners lift, twirl and rotate needles to unblock the flow of energy; 10 yin and yang balance; and stimulate the body's innate 11 to heal itself.

Looking beyond China, acupuncture has become a global 12 . Over the years, acupuncture has seen many advancements in scientific research and modern medicine. It is now a mainstream 13  and complementary treatment for a variety of weaknesses. According to a 2019 WHO report, acupuncture is used in 113 of its 120 member countries, 14  its widespread recognition and application. 

As an ancient Chinese medical 15  with a rich history and deep cultural significance, acupuncture is an embodiment of profound cultural heritage and a holistic path to healing. 

There's a rarely-visited, dusty corner of the world where something magical happens. The place, which looks like Mars with its red rock landscape, is the Tatacoa Desert, in Colombia.

Tatacoa is located in the region of Huila, south of the country's capital Bogotá. Although Tatacoa, with its protruding cacti and red rippled rocks, is called a desert, it is in fact a dry tropical forest. But the exciting, and very , feature of this desert, is what happens above it, at night.

Thanks to its remote location–it's almost 30 miles and an hour's drive over bumpy winding roads to the nearest town–Tatacoa has no light pollution to with the night sky.

Up to 88 constellations (星座) are visible on a clear night, as well as both hemispheres – something that happens nowhere else in the world. 

The warm and dry climate helps with stargazing; a atmosphere, which happens in dry spots or places of high elevation, decreases something called scintillation, which is when a star's light rises and falls rapidly. It's why stars twinkle, which looks beautiful but isn't so great for astronomers.

Not only is Tatacoa a natural wonder, but the DIY observatory that's run by a Colombian man named Javier Fernanda Rua Restrepo has become a star too. In fact, this humble building attracts stargazers from all over the world, from China to Iceland to Australia. And Restrepo has also become well-known in astronomer circles, with a few scientists their own telescopes to support the grassroots observatory.

The Colombian, who is from Cali, fell in love with the stars thanks to his father's interest in astronomy and science, and first visited Tatacoa in 1997, to try to see the Comet Hale-Bopp. He stayed for a couple of days before heading back to his hometown. But within a month, he returned to Tatacoa–and never left, camping out for weeks on end for the night to come so that he could watch the stars.

At first Restrepo had worked at the Colombian government's observatory, which he helped staff for 15 years. But after budget cuts meant he lost his job, he figured he would build his own.

In 2015, Restrepo opened the doors to his observatory–Tatacoa Astronomia–with just one telescope. Now, as Colombia has grown in as a tourist destination, hundreds flock to Restrepo's star party, which he holds once a year in July.

Tatacoa Astronomia is only open on starry nights, and Restrepo remains the sole employee. But that doesn't distract from the intimacy and the specialness of the place. The structure sits on a small patch of land that Restrepo bought himself, and is cordoned（隔离）off by tarpaulin（油布） to add an extra sense of and intrigue（阴谋）for visitors.

"The stars… they put my life into its tiny perspective, " he says, "and they constantly remind me there are greater things out there. "

Perhaps even more incredible is that it's smack bang in the middle of Kentucky.

Mammoth Cave National Park preserves this unique and historical natural wonder. As large as the limestone cave system is, park officials, estimate there  be another 600 miles of cave passageways that have yet to be explored. 

   those unexplored, more than 200 caves exist in the park that are disconnected from the larger system. 

The incredible rock formations have resulted in the park  (recognize) as a World Heritage Site, thanks to its extraordinary size and scientific importance – making it one of only 13 natural US sites with that title. 

The caves were created naturally by the process of limestone erosion, which is known as "karst topography". Rain and rivers slowly dissolve and shape soft limestone, which creates the vast underground network. The system is still being shaped and carved today. Not only are they a stunning destination to visit, but the system also provides drinking water for roughly 40% of the US population – and they're historical significance too.

The caves act as a time capsule that preserve over 5, 000 years of human history – and the caves' first explorers were Native Americans, who (mine) the upper levels of Mammoth Cave. Thanks to the cave system's atmosphere and natural protection from any kind of human disturbance, the archaeological sites have been left in great shape. Several sets of Native American remains have been recovered, (provide) fascinating evidence of pre-Columbian funerary practices.

Mammoth Cave was established as a national park thanks to strong local support. Back in the 1920s, Secretary of the Interior Hubert Work created the Southern Appalachian National Park Commission in 1925 to survey  (propose) park sites, including the caves. After years of work acquiring the land for the park, as well as building roads, trails, and public facilities, Mammoth Cave National Park was established on July 1,1941. 

Pioneering African Americans were some of the first cave guides, and are responsible for some of the more recently discovered passageways. Stephen Bishop, who was a slave, worked in the cave from 1838 to 1856 and ventured beyond the tour routes that (establish). He crossed a terrifying drop called the "bottomless pit" to discover unmapped areas of the cave system. Although they were unrecognized at the time, pioneers like Bishop helped spark the golden age of cave exploration.

The park now receives around 2 million visitors a year, with roughly a quarter taking a tour of the caves – everything from a cultural tour to the more adventurous scrambling tours on offer. The cave supports more than 130 wildlife species, such as the eyeless cavefish,  has adapted to the lightless environment by no longer growing eyes, and the cave crayfish. 

Mammoth Cave National Park is also much more than just a cave; its surrounding forest contains one of  (diverse) habitats in the country. There are miles of trails open for horseback riding, with kayak and canoe trails and great fishing spots. There are also more than 1, 300 flowering species in the forest, and animals like wood warblers, thrushes, and bald eagles can regularly be spotted. 

Eight o'clock on a May morning, and Mary, my 17-year-old daughter, was in our study upstairs. It had served as her classroom ever since schools moved to remote learning due to the COVID-19.

From the kitchen, I listened to the sound of her tapping on the laptop or her communicating in their Google Meet session s with her friends and teachers. I resisted the desire to check on her. Way too often, I would find Mary texting friends and commenting on their Snapchat and Instagram posts about the fun they were having together. I felt it safer not to care. After all, we'd barely left the house for 10 weeks straight. 

"Mom, everyone is hanging out today!" Mary's voice came from upstairs. "Why can't I?"I went up the stairs. Mary was lying on the floor, her laptop, school iPad and cell phone in front of her. "It's unfair, " she said. "I have no one I can be with. I can't wait until I'm 18. and can do what I want. "

We'd had this conversation before. Still, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. I was sick of isolating(隔离) too. Even though Mary and I were at home together more than we had been in years, we might as well have been living in separate worlds. 

"Wanna watch Netflix later?" I asked. "Bake some cookies?" "No, thanks. " Mary shook her head, as if the idea of doing something together was quite beyond her. I was used to Mary's rejection, but it still hurt. Teenage independence is healthy, but I worried that if I didn't find a way to bond with my girl soon, I might never be close with her again. She'd be 18 in the fall and had already convinced herself she didn't need me anymore. Maybe she was right. No matter what I did, I couldn't seem to reach her. That evening, I logged onto Facebook and saw a friend's family playing with their new kitten together. My mind went back to the difficult period when I was in high school and our family moved to the new city. It was a gray tabby(虎斑猫) with which Mom surprised me that brightened my days and got me through that difficult, lonely time.

注意：1. 续写词数应为 150左右；2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。

It suddenly occurred to me that having a cat in our house might help. 

We immediately decided to take the cat from the shelter home. 

注意：1. 写作词数应为 80左右：2. 请按如下格式作答。

Dear Chief Editor, 

Yours sincerely, 

Li Hua

Polar bears in the Arctic Circle rely on sea ice to help them hunt for seals. But due to warming temperature, that sea ice is melting sooner in the spring and freezing later in the fall, forcing the bears (go) hungry for longer . 

Nowadays, researchers have discovered a unique group of polar bears who've found a new way to survive in the (absent) of sea ice: By hunting from the ice that falls off glaciers. The findings(publish) in Science offer hope for a species that may be trending towards extinction by the end of the decade. The researchers urged caution against applying their findings  other populations of polar bears, who are still (unavoidable) threatened by the planet's warming. 

The bears  (live) in southeast Greenland go through a long period without sea ice around250 days. But they've been able to continue hunting during that period by using  falls off from glaciers into the water. 

Although the southeast Greenland bears(adapt) to their surroundings over the past decades, rising temperatures may eventually cause their glacial ice to get smaller or even disappear. As Steve Armstrup, scientist with Polar Bears International , says, "While the southeast Greenland bears are able to hunt with glacial ice today, that will be almost impossible in the future we control the rise of global greenhouse gases. "

For many people, the perfect career would be one in which they do what they love to make a living, but 1 , not many have either the luck or the luxury to do so, given 2  concerns and other considerations. Freelance(自由职业的) digital cartoonist Lian Zongbo is fully 3  of the risks, but decided to pursue his dream, anyway. 

After graduating in 2010, he started as a junior animator in Guangzhou. Struggling for 6 years with childish work, he was looking to do something he was really 4  . A huge basketball fan growing up, and good at a 5  of drawing methods, Lian had the idea of 6  his interests and career. In early2016, he began drawing illustrations based on the NBA and shared them on social media. 7  , he didn't get any feedback. 

8  he felt discouraged, Lian refused to admit failure. In January 2017, he received a(n)9 on his Instagram account that invited him to 10  his works at art shows in the US. Lian happily accepted the offer, seeing it as a(n) 11  to morale(士气). His basketball themed artworks quickly won him a growing number of enthusiasts, including former NBA superstar Dwyane Wade. 

His childhood hobby has now turned into a(n) 12 career that has given Lian a more comfortable life. When asked if he has any advice for others who also want to change jobs to 13 their passions, Lian said, "I wouldn't tell people to abandon their 14 jobs if they are not ready. Rather, I'd tell them to make full use of their spare time to explore their passions. Stick to it and one day your effort will 15 . "

In English it's common to say, "I know this town like the back of my hand!" While we may know our towns really well, how well do we actually know our hands?

Matthew Longo and his team from University College London studied the left hands of 100 people. With their hands placed palms down under a board, Longo's team gave the instruction to point to their knuckles(指关节) and fingertips with a marker pen. How did they do? Not that well.

In the experiment, according to Longo, "people think their hands are wider than they actually are. " They were most accurate when finding their thumbs, but became less accurate with each finger, up to their pinkies(小指).

"It is connected to our sense of position, " explained Longo. Humans know where different parts of our bodies are, even if we can't see them. It tells us whether a joint (关节) is straight or not. So the experiment the team conducted was to find those maps.

On the basis of the study, in our brain's map, brains "see" areas based on our sense of touch. The stronger the sense of touch in a specific body part is, the bigger that body part seems. An example is our lips. As they have more nerves than our noses, our brain's map shows our lips are bigger. If you've ever had something stuck in your teeth, it probably feels huge! That's because our tongues also have lots of nerves.

A. More nerves, larger a body part seems. 

B. Let's see how our humans know our body parts. 

C. It's essential to the sizes and shapes of our body. 

D. Maybe not quite as well as we think, said a scientific study. 

E. The same can happen with body parts having a lot of nerves. 

F. They also thought their fingers were shorter than their true lengths. 

G. Our brains know the body sizes and shapes from the maps they make for themselves. 

In a response to the threat posed by rising sea levels, South Korea showed the world's first model of sustainable floating city in Busan. 

"Sea level rise poses a threat for some small islands and some low-lying coasts, " says a recent report. The global sea level has risen by eight to nine inches since 1880. What's more frightening is that one-third of the rise in sea level happened in the last 25 years.

The floating city aims to provide technology for coastal cities facing severe land shortages that are combined by climatic threats. The city will serve as the "world's first model sustainable floating city" aiming to be "a structure that rises with the sea" supplying its own food, energy and water.

The floating city has six combined systems: zero waste and circular systems, closed-loop water systems, food, net-zero energy, innovative movement, and coastal habitat regeneration. These interconnected systems will generate 100 percent of the required energy through floating and rooftop photovoltaic panels(光伏板). 

Each neighborhood will treat and refill its own water, process and recycle resources, and provide innovative urban agriculture. The floating city is the world's first model of a sustainable floating community. The interconnected neighborhoods spread across 6.3 hectares that can hold a community of12, 000 people. Starting from a community of 3 platforms with 12, 000 residents and visitors, it has the potential to expand to more than 20 platforms. The floating platforms have dozens of productive stations with photovoltaic panels and greenhouses that can expand and contract(收缩) over time based on the city's needs. 

"I take seriously our commitment ‘ The First to the Future'. Our common future is at risk in the face of sea level rise and its impact on coastal cities, " said Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon, who has set a schedule, including turning Busan into a green smart city and compete for World Expo 2030.

This is as frightening as it is exciting to reach such an achievement, but living in a city that is like the communities where people try to survive in the movie Water World is kind of unhappy. 

The University of Exeter is launching a new program in September 2024 called the Master of Arts(MA) in Magic and Occult Science. This program is all about exploring ideas in a different way, according to its leader, Professor Emily Selove. 

Selove explained on BBC Radio 4's Today program that this degree in magic takes a fresh approach to studying history, science, philosophy, religion, and literature. It looks at these subjects from a unique viewpoint that hasn't received much attention from scholars before.

The university mentioned that this course will give students a chance to dig into the history and effects of witchcraft (巫术) and magic worldwide, including their influence on society and science. Expert s in various fields will teach the course and help students understand how magic has played a role in both Western and Eastern cultures. 

The University of Exeter already received more than a hundred inquiries for MA degree. The "innovative" MA has been created following a "recent surge in interest in magic", the course leader said. The interest in studying magic is on the rise, both within and outside of academic circles. This is because people are searching for fresh viewpoints on how we connect with other human cultures and the natural world, Selove explained.

Selove said that our ancestors had some interesting ideas that we may have ignored. These ideas have the potential to be valuable philosophical thoughts and could provide us with a new way of understanding society. "The MA in Magic and Occult Science would challenge the belief that the Western world is only characterized by rationalism(理性主义) and science while the rest of the world is associated with magic and superstition(迷信), "she added.

Furthermore, the university mentioned that this course can prepare students for various career paths, including teaching, consulting and tourism as well as work in heritage settings and museums, art organizations, and the publishing industry among other options. 

It might have been a really bad stressful day, feeling trapped inside by the cold and snow which surrounded us. My husband was the first to shift his consciousness. He dressed accordingly and announced that he was going outside to build a giant snowman. 

At first he stood alone, piling massive amounts of snow. Soon after a neighbor joined in my husband's pursuit to embrace the opportunity the winter presented. Maintaining less than desirable attitude, we unwillingly put on our snow equipment and headed outside. It wasn't long before we were smiling and enjoying the snow that Mother Nature had provided. Others came to our yard one by one to give a hand in the making of our giant snowman. 

In the end we all stood back, amazed at what we had created. He was eleven feet high, twenty-five feet around at the base and decorated with many household items supplied by various families. There he stood, our glorious, enormous snowman. 

People drove by and smiled. Some even stopped to enjoy his existence. The spirit that went into creating him seemed to catch on and we all enjoyed it while the cold temperatures permitted. 

With the passing of time, the spring made its way back into our yard and the snowman changed form considerably. In a final effort to save what we created for just a little bit longer, somebody stopped by and changed the snowman's remains to look like a rabbit. 

As I prepared for the start of another week, I decided to check my email before going to bed. I found a curious message that contained the subject line: enjoy the snowman. I decided to read the message even though I did not recognize who sent it. The words it contained melted my heart. 

The email said: …your neighbor look son in disbelief! I am sure you people are enjoying the sounds and smells, along with sights of spring. The energy displayed in Mr. Snowman or Ms, is filled with joyous energy. You and your family keep it up, as this is what the world needs now. Love sweet love. More power to you and your loved ones, keep sharing with the world around. 

Perhaps it was more than snowman we built that day. I'd like to agree that it was. The message seems clear. Our circumstances will turn out to be what we make of them. The possibilities are endless and the choice is ours. 

Below, find four of the very best fall movies -- which are not necessarily movies set in the fall, but which represent fall in some way -- to get you through to December. 

When Harry Met Sally. . . (1989)

When I think of fall, I automatically picture Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal walking through a leaf-strewn Central Park and talk about Sally's ultimate sexual fantasy. The film cycles through various seasons, but it feels brightest and most alive in fall, making it the perfect thing to get you through a frustrating November afternoon. 

Autumn in New York (2000)

I mean. . . how could I not include this one? Title aside, this Winona Ryder features many of the things I most as sociate with fall, including Central Park, small museums, and a woman dressed up as Emily Dickinson. We love to see it and cry at it. 

The Royal Tenenhaums (2001)

There's simply no film character who represents the concept of autumn quite like Margot Tenenbaum. Her seasonally appropriate clipped hair, charming eyes, and wardrobe of primarily browns all but scream out the reason for the season; and while signature fur coat might seem more winter near, her fondness for pairing it with Lacoste polo dresses is fall all the way. In what other season can you wear a coat with a dress, logically speaking?

Mona Lisa Smile(2003)

I'm actually an enthusiastic advocate of watching this Julia Roberts/Julia Stiles/Kirsten Dunst trifecta(三强联袂) in any season, but watching it in fall will make you desire a well-knitted sweater and a thermos of tea to take along with you while you cheer for the boys at the Harvard-Yale game.