Yerevan, Armenia

Yerevan's covered market was an anchor of the old city, but it couldn't compete with modern chains and mass-produced products. For a while, it looked like the whole structure would be demolished. Since then, the exterior has been restored and 'big business' has turned it into one of the city's supermarkets. Tree: entirely artificial! [2015]

Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Today, we have a multiple choice question. You get to pick two from the above display. Recommended (especially for Sagittarians named Lucas): (1) Dream-It-Plan-It-Do-It, (2) No-Pain-No-Gain. [2016]

Sofia, Bulgaria

Twenty-nine years ago, you had to go to Berlin to see the Berlin Wall. Today, you can see a remnant or two in cities around the world, including Sofia. For Bulgarians, it provides an inspiration to remain free: free from foreign domination and free from domestic absolutism. This is how history remains a part of our everyday lives. [2010]

Riga, Latvia

It is nothing more than a movie being filmed on the streets of Riga, but it does remind you of the unenviable fate of a small state trying to survive between two aggressors: Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. What's amazing is that all three Baltic States held out for so long, and are once again sovereign in their own right. [2003]

Rancho Mirage, California, USA

Rancho Mirage devotes an entire acre to cancer survivors. The centerpiece of the park is a series of four windows symbolizing treatment. People of all ages are shown approaching, passing through and emerging from the gauntlet. Today, my birthday, I estimate I am passing through the second window. [2016]

Sturgis, Michigan, USA

E.T. was one of the most popular movies of the late 20th century, and its impact on popular culture has continued. Here, Elliot and E.T. have re-appeared on main street. Can't you just see them circled by the moon as they pedal across the night sky? Did E.T. win the Best Picture Oscar in 1983, however? Of course not. [2018]

Concord, New Hampshire, USA

"Ring around the rosy; pocket full of posies; ashes, ashes; we all fall down." How many cultures around the world celebrate by dancing around in circles and chanting rhymes? But, the origins of this particular folk practice could be darker. Here on the statehouse lawn, though, it seems to offer a lot of harmless family fun. [2018]

Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

Why are pole banners so popular? (1) They add color to streetscapes. (2)They enhance the spirit of place with words and pictures. (3) They add value to otherwise single-purpose poles. (4) They are cheap enough to be revised and replaced frequently. (5) They add dynamism by fluttering with the breeze. (6) They make people look up instead of down. [2018]

Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

Today, the Legislature of North Carolina has a modern building of its own. Still, it is not the capitol; it is the State Legislative Building. It opened in 1963 and has been attracting visitors, including lots of pilgrim-scholars, ever since. No school groups today, though. It's Thanksgiving! [2018]

Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

North Carolina was a hold-out, but finally ratified the Constitution on November 21, 1789, making it the 12th state to join the Union. Less than 50 years later, the state built a new, modern capitol. For years it housed the legislature, but today is home only to the Governor's Office. Happy Birthday Tar Heels! [2018]

Panama City, Panama

A new generation keeps the memory of Martyrs Day alive by coating a wall with 21 national flags, one for each Panamanian killed during the 'flag riots' of 1964. Today, they are revered as martyrs because they dared to challenge the very existence of the US-held Canal Zone. It all happened on January 9, exactly 53 years before this picture was taken. [2017]

Bursa, Turkey

There is a mystery here, or at least a case of cognitive dissonance. Atatürk (candidate for the 'best-dressed' award) despised the Ottomans and worked to build a modern, secular, West-leaning Turkey. Yet, the flag of the Republic of Turkey is a virtual replica of the last flag used by the Ottoman Empire. Why? [2007]

Amsterdam, Netherlands

The setting is Dutch, but the actors are Arabs. They are part of the Palestinian diaspora in Europe. With a stage right in front of the Royal Palace, these Palestinians are trying to garner public support for international recognition by using photos, maps, and charged words like 'apartheid.' Above it all, flies the Palestinian standard. [2015]

Bangkok. Thailand

The flag of Thailand was adopted in 1917 when the country was still called Siam. The mystery is why its colors don't seem to fit the indigenous palette of place. In fact, they match the colors of flags in Europe and the Americas. Perhaps Thailand's flag originated as a statement of parity, equating never-colonized Siam with the era's most powerful states. [2016]

Athens, Greece

Flags come out on national holidays. In Greece, that means Independence Day. In fact, the Greek blue-white goes back to the War of Greek Independence (from the Ottoman Empire) in the 1820s. The cross represents Greek Orthodox Christianity: for sure. The stripes represent the nine Muses: not for sure. [2006]

North Manchester, Indiana, USA

So many authentic wooden bridges have been moved and/or closed to traffic. But, the North Manchester covered bridge is a bit unusual. First, it is in it original location. Second, it still accommodates light vehicular traffic (and pedestrians, of course). Perhaps not so unusual: It's on the National Register of Historic Places. [2018]

Centreville, Michigan, USA

The 3-span Langley covered bridge is the longest in Michigan, but it's not long enough. It has the help of a causeway to get it to the distant shore. Nor, is it high enough, so it has the help of height restrictors that remind drivers of the portals' clearance. In fact, when the reservoir was created it wasn't even elevated enough, so it was raised 8 feet. [2018]

Frederick, Maryland, USA

Covered bridges are such good backdrops for romantic memories from high school. Could this be a photo-shoot before the homecoming game begins? It's a scene that's been repeated over and over again since 1965, when the wooden span was built as the centerpiece of Baker Park. Smile! [2010]

St. Vrain, New Mexico, USA

Northeastern New Mexico gets less than 20 inches of precipitation a year. That's a bit too little to grow pumpkins on a large scale. So, where's the water come from to coax these vines (now defoliated) out of their seeds? From the Ogallala aquifer, i.e., fossil water from deep underground, fossil water making a contribution to rural aesthetics. [2018]

St. Vrain, New Mexico, USA

Winter is white. Spring is yellow. Summer is green. Autumn is orange. And, there is nothing more orange than a pumpkin patch. This one has been carefully conjured up by center pivot irrigation. It is the perfect place for a photographer and her son. Want to bet her pictures are already somewhere out there on social media? [2018]

Campo, Colorado, USA

Only with a source of water was life possible on the Great Plains. That made the windmill a God-send for humans and their herds. Mills like this were as independent as the people who settled here. They were self-governing: adjusting themselves to the direction of the wind and its speed. Tanks at the base of the derrick stored the water, and still do. [2018]

Campo, Colorado, USA

Here's an abandoned filling station in the middle of nowhere. Let's define 'nowhere': 15 miles in any direction from a paved road. Packed earth on the High Plains is all you get! It's a surprising place to find any service, but not so surprising when you consider that trucks and 4-wheel drives need gas, too. Alas, it's now closed. [2018]

Liberal, Kansas, USA

Even today, Dorothy (and a pedestal-like segment of the Yellow Brick Road) can be seen all over town. Here, she shares a street corner with Dino, your friendly Great Plains dinosaur. Dino sells gas, and Dorothy sells the community of Liberal. As a secondary occupation, they also sell memories of life in the 1930s. [2018]

Liberal, Kansas, USA

If you had to pick the best motion picture of the 20th century, it would have to be The Wizard of Oz. Agree? From the film, we know only that Dorothy (pictured here) was from Kansas, but from the folks who live in the town of Liberal, we now know that she was one of their own. Even today, she can be seen all over town. [2018]

Erick, Oklahoma, USA

Residents of the Great Plains just can't let all their windmills pass into oblivion. In their heyday, these wind widgets commanded the horizon of an otherwise horizontal environment. Today, they are collected, displayed roadside, and thanked for not only the water they pumped to the surface, but for the memories they made over so many years. [2018]

Erick, Oklahoma, USA

Not all cars become vintage objects of human affection. Some get dismembered for their parts, with their carcasses lined up in cemetery-like rows in junkyards, complete with cemetery-like flowers honoring their years of service on the nation's roads. [2018]

Dalhart, Texas. USA

Wondering about the make and year of that vintage car in yesterday's post? It's a 1937 Ford, and this is not its owner. Rather, he is going to do some work on the engine to make it more road-worthy. [2018]

Dalhart, Texas, USA

Time stands still in Dalhart, a panhandle town where the streets are still brick, the cars are still vintage, and the welcomes are still warm. Not only is the car rare, but so is a welcome sign that arcs over the main street, Denver Avenue. [2018]

Kralendijk, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands

Although masques are a more prominent part of the Caribbean's Catholic realms, even Bonaire (with its Dutch Protestant heritage) seems to get into the act. In fact, this masque hangs from a fence in front of the island's Catholic school. Masques like this are associated with the carnival season which precedes Lent. [2017]

Imlil, Morocco

Masques are so universal. In the annual celebration of Eid al Adha in Morocco, goats are sacrificed to commemorate Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son as the supreme act of faith. From the slaughter, boys will often pick a goat head, cut off the face, wear it as a masque, and scare whomever they can. See the youngin hiding in fear? [2017]