Reader’s Digest New Zealand

FOR SOME OF US, counting the number of steps we take throughout the day is a wonderful motivator, encouraging extra activity to meet our daily 10,000 step target. Our phones and wearables are able to record this feat with amazing accuracy, making it even more desirable to reach the target. In ‘Just Keep Walking’ (page 134), regular contributor Helen Foster looks at the origins of the magical 10,000 daily steps goal. In doing so, she questions whether that idealised number is actually good for us, or whether it’s a bit of a health myth. What Foster reveals makes for compelling reading. The articles appearing in this month’s issue offer a wide range of topics and insights. They include investigating the reasons why the world loves pizza (‘Food For Thought: Pizza’, page…

Making Music Reading ‘An Unexpected Musical Journey’ (My Story, June) brought back a similar experience. In April 2001, our local choral society advertised for people interested in taking part in a production of Les Miserables. I had not seen an actual performance of the show but knew the music and loved it. At my wife’s prompting, I auditioned, was successful and got to perform a solo. JOHN PHILLIPS Broader Horizons Congratulations, Reader’s Digest, on a marvellous century of service to the public. My father was a subscriber, so there was always a Reader’s Digest in the house. When I left home to teach, Dad gave me a year’s subscription. I took over the following year and have been a subscriber ever since. I still look forward to finding the little magazine in my mailbox and…

Octogenarian Creates Free Game App When 85-year-old Masako Wakamiya of Tokyo couldn’t find Japanese gaming apps for seniors, who may have slower reflexes and arthritic fingers, she didn’t give up – she created one. Wakamiya had long embraced technology, buying her first computer when she retired from her banking job so she could stay in touch with her friends. So this self-described ‘IT evangelist’ set about teaching herself coding. Wakamiya successfully launched her first mobile game app, called Hinadan, in 2017. Named after an ancient festival in Japan, the game requires users to arrange traditional dolls in a particular order. The five-star-rated game has been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Her second game, Nanakusa, named after Japan’s ‘seven herbs of spring’ ritual, was released in 2020. Wakamiya now teaches computer classes to other people…

CALL IT A GEEZER crisis. An old man grasping for a semblance of youth. A hare-brained scheme that would almost certainly end in lack of dignity or, even worse, serious injury. But on my 70th birthday, in September 2019, I decided to participate in 70 different sports before I turned 71. The motivation? Simply to have some fun. I had played sport as a youngster and never stopped. The odd game of golf has long been part of my annual routine. So while it might sound like hubris, I was confident that 70 sports in one year was well within my reach. To qualify as a sport, the endeavour would require at least some of the following: agility, strength, hand–eye coordination, or it at least had to leave me huffing and puffing.…

Bella And Her Butterflies VICTORIA LORREKIVOCH-MILLER One summer’s day, the bushes in our backyard began whimpering and whining and making all sorts of commotion. Or rather, our dog, Bella, was. Our 11-year-old daughter, Kaitlin, discovered her sniffing and pawing at a branch where caterpillars had munched away. My husband and I worried that our backyard – a frequent hangout for birds, squirrels and cats – wasn’t the safest environment for vulnerable caterpillars. So we got a butterfly house where the caterpillars could safely metamorphose. Each day, when we took the butterfly house to the backyard, Bella moved with it. Each night, when we brought it back inside, Bella followed, then slept under the table on which it rested. Finally, the caterpillars turned into beautiful monarch butterflies. Surprisingly, Bella didn’t seem worried when Kaitlin released…

EPIC PURRING AND COSY CUDDLES generally keep cat lovers content. But then there’s the feline frenzy to knock things over. What gives? While some cats are affectionate, others are aloof. Some love to pounce around and play, while others prefer to lurk out of sight. Then there’s that thing where a cat zooms from one corner of a room to another in a blur, as if possessed. These are just a few of the many vagaries of living with felines. But there are certain consistent questions that captivate owners across the board, no matter what kind of personality their cat has. For instance, why do cats sleep so much? Why do cats meow? Why do cats purr? And why do cats knead any available pillow or blanket? Another question that often rears its…