While finishing an internship at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C., Rosie Grant discovered a spritz cookie recipe etched on a headstone at a New York City cemetery and decided to give it a try, the Washington Post reported. Naomi Odessa Miller-Dawson's recipe included the ingredients but no instructions. Even so, Grant said the results were heavenly. "Cooking these recipes has shown me an alternative side to death," Grant said. "What a cool gift [Miller-Dawson] put on her gravestone."

Keep it clean

Maine is walking back a 2015 decision to eliminate its review process for vanity license plates, the Associated Press reported on Oct. 27. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows called the resulting vulgarities since the state quit applying decency standards the "wild wild West." About 400 offensive plates are subject to recall. Because the plates are technically the property of the state, officials can demand that they be returned. Bellows offered advice to those losing their plates: "Get a bumper sticker."

Dew-ing her thing

An unnamed 64-year-old woman in Gastonia, N.C., was charged with firing a gun within city limits on Oct. 24 after officers arrived to find her shooting at Mountain Dew cans in her backyard. Why? She told officers that she didn't approve of her father drinking the soda, Fox News reported. "We totally understand that not everybody is a fan of the Dew, but we can't stress enough how dangerous this is!" Gastonia police posted on their Facebook page.

Goats galore

The town of Llandudno in Wales has set up a task force to address one of its most pressing problems: marauding goats. The Kashmini mountain goats, which normally reside on the Great Orme headland near the town, got bold during the pandemic — moving into the community, eating hedges, sleeping in bus shelters and fighting in the supermarket parking lot, Metro News reported. The task force's main goal is protecting the animals from injury or death. "We should be very proud to have these wonderful animals on our doorstep," said City Council member Geoff Stewart. The goats are descendants of those presented to the town by Queen Victoria about 100 years ago.

Assault by tumbleweed

Marlies Gross of Fountain, Colo., was trapped in her home on Oct. 22 — not by a menacing bear or a crippling snowstorm, but by tumbleweeds that surrounded her house after a windstorm. "Horrible!" Gross told KRDO-TV. "I opened the front door and ... it was full of tumbleweeds." When she tried to drive away, she said, "I almost ran into the neighbor's fence because I didn't know where I was. You know, you feel helpless. I thought it was a bad dream. ... Oh, it's horrible."

Dirty business

Amou Haji, 94, of Dezhgah, Iran, also known as the World's Dirtiest Man, refused to bathe for more than 60 years because he was afraid doing so would make him sick. Apparently, he was right: "Villagers had recently taken him to a bathroom to wash" for the first time, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported. "Not long after, he fell ill and finally ... he gave up his life."

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