By Morgan Severson

👋 Howdy y'all! Morgan here — filling in for Scottie this week to bring you some positive vibes for your Saturday morning.   

Speaking of Saturdays, this time next week I’ll be on vacation with my family. Last fall, I moved to Atlanta to start my first full-time job after college (Hook ‘em horns 🤘) at CNN. My family is flying in from Houston to visit and I couldn’t be more excited. The first week of July is always full of celebration for us — it’s my older sister’s birthday, my parents’ wedding anniversary, and of course, the Fourth of July. 

Moving 800 miles away is the furthest I’ve ever lived from home and my family has been a lifeline, so you can imagine how excited I am to see them. But the person I am most excited to see is my Nana.  

When I was a baby, she moved in with my parents to care for me while they worked — braiding my hair before school, cooking dinner when I got home —doing the things grandmothers do best. As I grew older, Nana began to lose her eyesight to glaucoma, so now my family takes care of her. But let me tell you, even though she can’t see, my Nana does not let her vision loss keep her down!  

She has memorized the layout of our house and navigates it on her own. She knows her medications by touch, dials phone numbers by memory, and can tell you the time based on which TV show is playing. She’s 79 years old, and honestly, there’s nothing she can’t do. 

She inspires me every single day — and I hope she inspires you too. 

Here are some good things that happened this week.

Kelvin Okafor

Sketching scars into stories

My sisters and I were all born with eczema, so I was drawn to this story. In his latest exhibition “Drawing Awareness,” acclaimed British Nigerian hyperrealist artist Kelvin Okafor aims to celebrate different skin conditions.  

The idea came from his 2019 portrait of Canadian fashion model Winnie Harlow, who has vitiligo. Since then, he’s sketched portraits of both ordinary people and celebrities with conditions such as facial scarring from lupus, hair loss from alopecia, surgical scars from cleft palate surgery, injuries from acid attacks and more. 

Okafor says he spends up to 900 hours on a single pencil drawing. He gets absorbed in his subjects’ stories as he studies their voice, body language and psychology. Feeling emotionally connected with his subjects is essential, he says, because he wants to honor their conditions.

“We live in an age where looks often shape how people judge others, which I believe is unfair,” said Aki Abiola, founder of Hope93 Gallery, where the exhibition is held. “When you learn the stories behind people’s lives, you begin to understand them better. I think that’s exactly what Kelvin is trying to reveal: the beauty within.”

CNN

A small syringe with a big impact

Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV, is the most common cause for babies to be hospitalized, but Sanofi is one of a few companies producing a shot that can help prevent this potentially severe illness.  

The injection, called Beyfortus, is one of two new forms of protection against RSV, along with a vaccine that recently came out for pregnant moms. CNN’s Meg Tirrell got an inside look at the facilities producing the shot, which contains antibodies that block RSV’s ability to infect cells.  

A tiny purple syringe holds the dose for the youngest babies, and thanks to the shot, hospitalization rates for RSV dropped by over half last season, according to the CDC.  

Center for Whale Research

Look at this thing, isn’t it neat?

It appears that Ariel isn’t the only one under the sea using a brush! New drone footage revealed pods of orcas using kelp to brush each other.  

Behavioral ecologist Michael Weiss, who observed the footage, said he didn’t think much of it at first because “whales do weird things,” but he now has some theories as to why the orcas are doing it.  

He named the behavior “allokelping”  and said one reason for it could be to treat or remove dead skin. Orcas often shed their skin, which helps keep their bodies smooth and aerodynamic. Another reason could be to strengthen social bonds, as the whales seen exhibiting the behavior were often close in age and related. It’s always a good yap session when my older sister is doing my hair, so I totally agree with the social bonding theory. 

NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Uncovering mysteries in the Milky Way

Growing up in Houston (home of NASA’s Space Center), I’ve been inundated with space news and field trips touring the inside of shuttles my entire life. But I was dazzled by these images from the National Science Foundation that captured millions of distant stars and galaxies and revealed thousands of previously unseen asteroids.  

The new images represent just over 10 hours of observation from the largest camera ever built, which is housed in the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. The telescope’s namesake, considered to be one of the most influential women astronomers, provided some of the first evidence that dark matter existed. In Rubin’s honor, the telescope is expected to continue her pioneering work. 

“(Rubin) will enable us to explore galaxies, stars in the Milky Way, objects in the solar system, and all in a truly new way. Since we take images of the night sky so quickly and so often, (it) will detect millions of changing objects literally every night,” said Dr. Aaron Roodman, professor of particle physics and astrophysics at Stanford University’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California.  

Parkwood Entertainment/Reuters

YEE-HAW! 

Ignore my potential bias, but I think Texas is the best state ever. When you have staples like H-E-B, Whataburger, Buc-ee’s and food like kolaches, I can look past the triple-digit temperatures.  

Not to mention, Houston is home to the powerhouse superstar Beyoncé, whose Cowboy Carter tour is coming back to the US. CNN’s Megan Thomas wrote a personal essay about the joy and community fostered by strangers coming together in their cowboy get-up. 

If you’re like Megan, a mom who sings along to “Irreplaceable” in the car, you can relate to the freedom she writes about feeling while watching Beyoncé perform.  

“Art, at its best, evokes emotion, challenges us or offers an escape. Cowboy Carter accomplishes all three.” 

Rebeca Wright/CNN

Alright, I’ve talked enough about Houston in this newsletter. If you’re looking for your next vacation spot, you should take the advice of our experts! The CNN Travel team has handpicked 10 cities for this year’s list of America’s Best Towns to Visit.

Taking the number five spot is Annapolis, Maryland. Nicknamed “America’s Sailing Capital,” you can’t fully appreciate this city without getting out on the water for views of its harbor, aquatic life and picturesque skyline.

This town and the nine others have loads of personality, plenty to see and do, and they offer a taste of what makes the US so distinctive. Check out the full list here.

CNN 5 Good Things podcast

This week on CNN’s 5 Good Things podcast, color-changing paint could reduce CO2 emissions and slash your energy bill. A Hong Kong native started on the keys at three-years-old, and now he’s the top pianist of his generation. Plus, how some random meet-cutes ended up at the altar.   

I asked my parents for a dog as my college graduation gift last May. Ever since, I’ve been a dog mom and it’s been the best thing that’s happened in my life so far.  

Meet Mochi — my one-year-old Shih Tzu. He’s truly the sweetest and will make your heart melt! On our walks, he loves to greet people with a wag and a smile (that’s only if he’s not busy searching for mulch or sticks to pick up in the grass).  

Morgan Severson

Aren’t dogs just the best? I’ve been thinking about this video from about a year ago about a howling, piano-playing Beagle named Buddy Mercury. He is longer with us, but while he was, his owners used his fame to encourage animal adoption. Buddy Mercury performed on several stages, from "Good Morning America" to "The Tonight Show."  

❤️ Made with love by the 5 Things team

💌 Know someone who could use a little good news? Send them a copy! We hope you love it as much as we do.

📧 Check out all of CNN’s newsletters.

This 5 Good Things was edited by CNN's Andrew Torgan.

What would you like to see in 5 Good Things?

We want to hear from you. Questions, ideas or feedback?