Finally Friday quick hits: Good conversations; celebrating farm life; firefighter endurance; question mark in space

Photo by Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Magnum via Aeon

There's nothing like a delightful chat with a fellow human. "A good conversation mixes opinions, feelings, facts and ideas in an improvisational exchange with one or more individuals in an atmosphere of goodwill. It inspires mutual insight, respect and, most of all, joy," writes Paula Marantz Cohen of Aeon. "It is a way of relaxing the mind, opening the heart and connecting, authentically, with others. To converse well is surprising, humanizing and fun."

Some just make the world better. Meet Renee Boughman, who "proved that an honor payment system can be a sustainable business model for a restaurant," reports Taylor Sisk of The Daily Yonder. "The most popular item on the menu? Feeding those in need with a dash of community building."

Successful Farming photo

The vintage vibe is a fun way to learn about the past. "Browse these Successful Farming covers ranging from 1910 to 1959 to get a glimpse of schools and students" from days gone by," reports Lisa Foust Prater of Successful Farming. "The quality of life of farm families has always been an important topic, including the education of farm children."

Fighting fires is not for the faint of heart. "A day fighting wildfires can require as much endurance as riding the Tour de France, reports Brent C. Ruby for The Conversation, a journalistic platform for academics. "The crew is participating in a study that my team from Montana is conducting to measure the physical strain and total energy demands of work on an active wildfire, with the goal of finding ways to improve firefighter fueling strategies and ultimately health and safety on the line."

NASA photo

In a world fraught with problems, even outer space is having trouble figuring things out. "NASA just found a question mark in space. The object is far outside our galactic neighborhood, possibly billions of light-years away," reports Allie Yang of National Geographic. "But astronomers have seen similar objects closer to home. What exactly is it?"

Even if a lot of food grows on trees, money doesn't. Paul Krugman of The New York Times in his opinion "Why are Groceries So Expensive?" Krugman asks: "Can we blame Bidenomics? Or are surging food prices an example of 'greedflation,' inflation caused by price gouging?"