Three things make a post, goes the old wisdom, so I bring you three things:

1. A small fish native to desert creeks of Southern Oregon and Northern California, called the Modoc sucker, has been taken off the endangered species list, after 30 years of work to keep it from extinction.
2. Baby tortoises!! Spotted for the first time in 100 years on the Galapogos Island of Pinzon. Not only a positive sign for their species, they are really cute, too.
3. A lot of awful things happened this past year, but this article lists 11 positive signs of progress, including improvements in education worldwide, polio being nearly eradicated, and child mortality rates continuing to drop.
4. Bonus article, because ’tis the season for sharing good things, and the gift contains within it another. This is a letter to the editor, about the importance of joy: “Anybody want to start a movement? #YouCantHaveMyJoy.” The poem quoted within is absolutely worth reading in its entirety.