Foxes and farmers have never got on well. These small dog-like animals have long been accused (控告)of killing farm animals. They are officially considered as harmful and farmers try to keep their numbers down by shooting or poisoning them.

Farmers can do call on the services of their local hunt to control the fox population . Hunting consists of hunting a fox across the countryside, with a group of specially trained dogs, followed by men and women riding horses. When the dogs eventually catch the fox , they kill it or a hunter shoots it.

People who take part in hunting think of it as a sport ; they wear a special uniform of red coats and white trousers , and follow strict codes of behavior. But owning a horse and hunting regularly is expensive , so most hunters are wealthy.

It is estimated (估计) that up to 100,000 people watch or take part in fox hunting . But over the last couple of decades the number of people opposed to fox hunting , because they think it is cruel, has risen sharply. Noisy confrontations between hunters and saboteurs have become so common that they are almost as much a part of hunting as the hunting of foxes itself. But this year supporters of fox hunting face a much bigger threat to their sport. A Labour Party Member of the Parliament, Mike Foster, is trying to get Parliament to approve a new law which will make the hunting of wild animals with dogs illegal. If the law is passed, wild animals like foxes will be protected under the ban in Britain.

Life as a 340-pound man had become unmanageable for Erie O’Grey. When not traveling for work, he rarely left his apartment. He took about 15 medicines, including weight-loss drugs. He tried dieting, but nothing worked. Then two things during a flight inspired him to go to see a naturopathic (自然疗法的) doctor. O’Grey had an embarrassing incident when the flight crew had to wait for a seat belt extension for him before the plane took off. Then he saw news about “plant-based” diets.

The doctor recommended a plant-based diet and also ordered him to adopt a shelter dog and walk him twice a day for 30 minutes. Armed with new recipes and the order, he went to the local shelter with visions of the perfect dog dancing through his head, one that never barked or disobeyed orders. But the adoption coordinator (协调人) brought in a very fat dog with skin problems.

“The dog looked at me with a clear sense of disappointment. Then his head hung low,” O’Grey said.” I can relate to that." The coordinator told him they had much in common and that they both need work on the same things. O’Grey took the dog home and named him “Peety”. They began going for walks. At first, O’Grey could only take his new companion about 100 yards. But Peety seemed to like it. “He just looked up at me like he was so appreciative.”

Their twice-daily exercise gradually got longer as O’Grey began to enjoy walking through his neighborhood with Peety. As they lost weight and grew healthier together, the pair developed a tight bond. In six months, Grey quit all medicines. Over time O’Grey discovered he loved long-distance running. Now he runs an average of five to six marathons a year.

On the journey toward a healthier, happier life, O’Grey becomes a lover of long-distance running and dog adoption. He’s also co-written a book, Walking with Peety: The Dog Who Saved My Life, encouraging others struggling with obesity to turn it around.

Getting to Antarctica is not easy. The few who are lucky enough to visit this most mysterious continent do so by ships. To reach Antarctica, ships must pass through a notoriously violent area of ocean called the Drake Passage, considered to be the roughest stretch of sea on the planet.

Walls of water thirty, sometimes forty feet high continually crashed about our ship for two solid days. We would hold on to a rope inside the ship while being violently tipped to one extreme side, then to the other, and then back again. My daughter Claire and I were as mentally prepared as we could be.

About two and a half days after entering the Drake Passage, the waters calmed. Soon, we noticed small black spots on nearby pieces of floating ice. Emperor penguins! Then, we began the two-mile hike over the ice to the penguin colony. Within several hundred yards, little clusters of emperors, perhaps ten or so at a time, greeted us, sliding on their bellies and making their wonderful noises, sort of a nasally squeal.

One day two adult emperors with their three chicks in-tow approached Claire, who was resting on the ice. They left the chicks with her, as if she were the babysitter. Twenty minutes later they returned to collect the chicks. And I will never forget the penguin that, when I jokingly asked which way back to the helicopters, pointed a wing in the correct direction. Every night aboard our safe and warm ship, we thought about what it takes to survive in Antarctica, an incredibly harsh place.

But each day on the ice, we also thought about the Drake passage, that monstrous body of water we had to endure to get where we were. Over the course of our visit, we came to respect the power of that sea. We still talk about the penguins, as I’m sure we always will. But we talk about the Drake too. Both experiences were unforgettable, and one would not have bee possible without the other.