Fairhope, Alabama, USA

Witches, along with ghouls and goblins, will dominate both earth and sky tonight. Some may even show up at your front door. Please don't pretend you are not at home! If you do, you might get a trick. It's far easier to ward off such evil by doling out treats. [2005]

Navarre, Florida, USA

The first snows of the season fell on the "lower 48" this past week. Most squalls delivered not quite enough to build a snowman. Oh, well. Snowmen can be made of material other than snow, at least ersatz snowmen. Snowmen? Didn't you get the gender-neutral memo? We now call them snow people! [2017]

New York, New York, USA

The countdown to Earth Day 2023 begins today. Don't shrug off the responsibility to make every day Earth Day. Otherwise, the Anthropocene will end, and a new era of Earth history will begin, an era without human inhabitants. So sayeth Atlas, the titan. [2018]

Santa Rosa, California, USA

Charlie Brown and Snoopy have been planning April Fool's tricks all year, and this is the day they plan to use one on you! Beware! As for this memorial: It's in Charles Shultz' adopted home town, Santa Rosa. Where are Lucy and Linus, you ask. Keep looking. They're lurking around town somewhere. [2005]

Rome, Georgia, USA

♫ These Are a Few of My Favorite Things ♫ ~ Public Sculpture: Who founded the 'eternal city'? Romulus 'n Remus, abandoned twins suckled by a she-wolf! Now you know where the name Rome came from. Wonder how it came to Georgia? Like all good public art, the sculpture here invites you into a web of connections and, perhaps, controversies. [2013]

Tbilisi, Georgia

St. George slaying the dragon (slaying sin in the Christian tradition) stands in the center of Georgia's capital city. It's a national point of pride. Why? Because it all happened in Georgia. The dragon originally guarded the golden fleece in Colchis, and the fleece represented power and authority. Grab the fleece, and you become the ruler. [2015]

Camp Verde, Arizona, USA

What is your superpower? For Kokopelli, with his Hopi pedigree, it's fertility, and he is also a flute-player, a mischief-maker, and, now, a pop culture icon. As a meme, he may even preside over burials (as on this headstone from Cottonwood), particularly if the departed shared Kokopelli's superpowers. [2019]

Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Question you were surely asked in grade school: Who was the Greek god of fire? Vulcan, the blacksmith. He is also the protective deity of Birmingham, the "Pittsburgh of the South." Question you we were never asked in grade school: Where is the largest cast iron statue in the world? Birmingham, in Vulcan Park. [2005]

Dayton, Washington, USA

Initials aren't the only things you see on western hillsides. Do you recognize the valley of the Jolly Green Giant? Here he be, presiding over his asparagus fiefdom. But, wait! Even though Dayton used to be the home of the world's largest asparagus cannery, those days are gone. The asparagus has migrated to Peru, but the hillside giant has remained behind. [2019]

Walla Walla, Washington, USA

Walla Walla may have the largest collection of muffler men in the country thanks to Melody Muffler. These two occupy the space once taken up by fuel pumps. And one is playing a melody on that horn. How appropriate! What is his partner doing? [2019]

Tavernier, Florida, USA

Her only duty in life is to accept the mail six out of seven days every week. Where does she work? The Florida Keys, the one place in the world where mermaids might actually be real. [2018]

Anita, Iowa, USA

The Pillsbury doughboy seems to have been nailed to a telephone pole, but he still seems so happy. At 54 years old, he is probably happy about how well he has defied aging. Now an historic figure, he seems to belong along a historic highway. [2019]

Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, USA

Velkommen to the troll capital of America, Mt. Horeb, where Main Street is called the Trollway. With two dozen trolls around town, visitors quickly get the idea that the folks here are proud of their Norwegian heritage. [2019]

Bristol, England, USA

It's World Oceans Day: time to honor King Neptune. Not only is he the patron of the five oceans, he is also the patron of seaside cities like Bristol. Five Oceans? The Southern Ocean was created by the International Hydrographic Organization in 2000. All said, though, today should really be World Ocean Day: singular. [2015]

Rhyolite, Nevada, USA

Leonardo never visited Death Valley, but his ideas did. In ghostly form, Christ's Last Supper appeared on the desert pavement in the 1980s. Miraculously, it has lasted for decades. Leonardo, the painter, and Szukalski, the sculptor, caught "the twelve" just as Jesus announced that "one of you will betray me." [2016]

Livonia, Michigan, USA

The darkest day of the year falls today: April 15. Isn't this how most people think of the tax collector, as the Grim Reaper's twin brother? And, this year, tax day falls right in the middle of the Easter Season. [2008]

Granby, Quebec, Canada

Faux Human Characters: Of course, you know what he's stirring up in the kettle today! A love potion. Of course, you know who he is. Merlin. So, you also know it must be potent. Happy Valentine's Day. [2011]

Palm Beach, Aruba

Faux Human Characters: Captain Morgan was a Caribbean pirate and folk hero, who now makes it his life work to peddle his eponymous rum. He may have a Dutch name, and Aruba may be a Dutch island, but we are told he is Welsh! [2017]

Del Mar, California, USA

Hey, that's a security breach! You know you are going to get caught, Mr. Claus, and your little reindeer, too. By this time, ADT has been alerted, and there's already a red-neck with a shot gun at the bottom of that chute. This entrance is reserved exclusively for Mr. Grinch. As for that red-neck: His name is Scrooge. [2007]

Marlowe, West Virginia, USA

Fireworks on Independence Day? It's a tradition that goes back to the very first anniversary of the signing: July 4, 1777. Three weeks earlier, the 'stars and stripes' had been adopted as the national standard. So, what seems like garish commercialism here is really a deep dip into the history of our democracy. [2018]