Hollywood, California, USA

Hollywood: It's both the sign on the hillside and the name of a Netflix series that was released just this month. The series is about racism, sexism, and homophobia, and how the world might be different today if we could go back and rewrite the history of Tinseltown (and the nation) after World War II. [2020]

Tensed, Idaho, USA

"Only YOU can prevent forest fires": so says Smokey Bear. But who can prevent coronavirus? Maybe we need signs like this erected at the border of every municipality to communicate the "Coronavirus Danger Today." [2019]

Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Little state, big capitol: That's Rhode Island. It could almost be mistaken for the national capitol in Washington. From colonial times until the early 20th century, however, "Little Rhody" had more than one capitol, including the Old Colony House (below). Rhode Island was the last of the thirteen to ratify the new Constitution: on this date in 1790. [👆2018 and 👇2008]

The Old Colony House in Newport, Rhode Island

Huntington Beach, California, USA

Beach volleyball originated in California, where the offshore waters were too cold for swimming because of the south-flowing California current. With limited  options for water sports (read: surfing with a wet suit), something had to fill the vacuum. Thus, volleyball on the beach: now an Olympic sport. [2020]

Huntington Beach, California, USA

Here be boys playing ball.

Better sports than boisterous brawl.

Each one of four, a partner has,

Analog images all crossing paths.

Total: eight. But only four

Will leave the shore. 

At end of day, at end of play, 

The analogs will fade away.

No echo of an: "Oh, please stay."

No! Brother Sol must have his way.

[2020]

Huntington Beach, California, USA

What is Huntington's nickname? Surf City. Largely as a result of the city's relative location, ocean swells are swell all year long. To the north, the coastline falls in the wave-energy shadow of the Channel Islands. Huntington lies just beyond that shadow and benefits from the refraction of waves around San Clemente and Santa Catalina. [2020]

New Lexington, Ohio, USA

Let's use this Memorial Day to put the toll of coronavirus into perspective. As of today, Covid-19 has taken 100,000 American lives. That is the same number of deaths from the wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan combined. Only the Civil War and World War II resulted in more American deaths. And, coronavirus has done it in a mere four months. [2017]

Reston, Virginia, USA

Lake Anne, a community built around a village center, was the first neighborhood developed in the new town of Reston. Today, we take mixed-use zoning for granted, but in the 1960s single-use zoning was at its height, and Reston offered an alternative to the isolated and under-served dormitories that took over after World War II. [2016]

Lake Anne Center in 1970

Columbia, South Carolina, USA

South Carolina ratified the Constitution on this date in 1788, so South Carolina has been one of "these united States" for 232 years. Or do we have to subtract the Civil War years when South Carolina was part of the Confederate States of America? Either way, it is time to say Happy Birthday to the Palmetto State. [2016]

Hampstead Village, London, England, UK

Landscape sprites thrive on roof lines like this. Are the crooked chimneys supposed to keep them from getting into the house? If so, beware! They might even keep that Christmas sprite from delivering presents. [2005]

Novosibirsk, Russia

Siberia! At sunset. The Church of the Savior. Russian Orthodox. Built of native larch. Circa 1700. Originally located north of the Arctic Circle. Relocated to Novosibirsk's outskirts. Now part of an open-air museum. [1999]

Kraków, Poland

Landscapes, still lifes, and portraits: all on the wall. To which one are your eyes drawn? Probably, the portrait. And, you are probably asking yourself: "Is that Gandalf?" It could be, since the Lord of the Rings movies were released in 2001, 2002, and 2003. BTW: The years in brackets throughout this blog are when the pictures were taken. [2004]

Antwerp, Belgium

In Belgium, waffles dusted with powdered sugar are served as street food everywhere. In the U.S., they are bought frozen, popped into the toaster at home, and eaten with syrup. It used to be that every American home had a waffle iron, and waffles were eaten for breakfast or for dinner (as chicken-and-waffles). Today, that is not the case. [2015]

Malacca, Malaysia

In an effort to connect with their Islamic foundations and negate all the attention paid to the Portuguese, Malaysians rebuilt a long-gone nouria on the Malacca River. It's ancestors are in medieval Syria. Although this one is just a showpiece, its original purpose would have been to serve the famous trading city on the Strait of Malacca. [2011]

Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain

Successful innovations are followed by diffusion. From the Near East spread the idea of using a wheel to lift water, in this case not to the fields but to the city of Toledo. Of course, the Spanish like to think it was their idea alone, but nouria technology actually originated in Syria at least two centuries earlier. [2009]

Hamah, Syria

The river is the Orontes (3 syllables). The water wheel is called a nouria, a technology that dates from medieval times. The power of  the flowing stream is used to lift water up to the level of the fields where it is dumped into a canal (see below) for irrigating crops. Hamah has the most famous collection of nourias in the world. [1993]

Miami, Florida, USA

Barnum's Animals are out of their cages and back on the African savannah, where they have flourished since 2018. That is when Nabisco redesigned the box for its animal crackers. What do we mean by "out of their cages"? See the gorilla in his cage on the old box below. [2019]

Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Barnum's Animals are out of their cages and back on the African savannah, where they have flourished since 2018. That is when Nabisco redesigned the box for its animal crackers. Your assignment, resurrected from primary school memories, is to write an essay on "How the Giraffe got his Long Neck." [2019]

Panama City Beach, Florida, USA

Barnum's Animals are out of their cages and back on the African savannah, where they have flourished since 2018. That is when Nabisco redesigned the box for its animal crackers. Your assignment, resurrected from primary school memories, is to write an essay on "How the Lion got his Mane." [2018]

San Diego, California, USA

Barnum's Animals are out of their cages and back on the African savannah, where they have flourished since 2018. That is when Nabisco redesigned the box for its animal crackers. Your assignment, resurrected from primary school memories, is to write an essay on "How the Elephant got his Trunk." [2020]

Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Barnum's Animals are out of their cages and back on the African savannah, where they have flourished since 2018. That is when Nabisco redesigned the box for its animal crackers. Your assignment, resurrected from primary school memories, is to write an essay on "How the Zebra got his Stripes." [2019]

Pomeroy, Washington, USA

Western Washington is so wet. Eastern Washington is so dry. Where are we here? All the rain clouds that were on their way to Pomeroy got "rained out" while passing over the Cascade Range. It's a process called orographic uplift and it results in a rain shadow. Still, there is enough rainfall to make the Palouse one of the great wheat-growing areas of the nation. [2019]

Prescott, Arizona, USA

The City of Prescott is only a few miles away from the Granite Dells. The urban population is approaching 50,000 and the growth rate is high. That means, of course, that the demand for housing on the periphery is also high, perhaps so high that the the unique scenery and ecosystems of the Dells will be lost forever. Save the Dells! [2019]

Prescott, Arizona, USA

You may recognize Watson Lake as a reservoir rather than a natural lake, but do you recognize its surroundings as an exposed pluton? Watson Lake is merely a flooded portion of the Granite Dells. Fishing and hiking are encouraged, but no swimming! Let's hope Pluto wasn't exposed along with his pluton, or these walkers might have a problem. [2019]

Prescott, Arizona, USA

Where is this now-exposed pluton supposed to be? A mile or two beneath the surface, right where it formed. You are looking at an ancient pool of magma that cooled slowly allowing its chemical components to find each other and crystallize, forming granite. Then came uplift, erosion, and exposure to the atmosphere. Welcome to the Granite Dells! [2019]

Oldtown, Kentucky, USA

What grade would you give this landscape tableau? How about a B? Look closely and you will see why. In fact, about one out of every seven people buried in this churchyard bears the same B name as on this headstone. [2017]

Denton, Maryland, USA

Cemeteries are often adjacent to old churches. In fact, before the 1830s, people were buried in either churchyards or family plots near home. That kept the quick and the dead close to one another. Today? Cemeteries are located as far from our everyday lives as possible. Still, though, they are beautiful places to visit, especially in the spring. [2013]

Portland, Maine, USA

May the fourth be with you! You must use the fourth! Happy Star Wars Day. The original Star Wars came out 43 years ago this month. With nothing else to do, you might as well spend the day binge watching all nine episodes. Thanks, Taz. . . The force will be with you always. [2019]

Itasca, Texas, USA

The simplest of signs somehow captures the essence of small-town America: "At Mom and Dads' Be Right back." Her folks take precedence over the "Open" sign; everybody knows where everyone else lives; and no one cares if their cell phone number is out there. Polite? Yes: "Thx." Happy? Yes: 😃 But, today her smiley face would look like this: 😷 [2012]

Encinitas, California, USA

Is it a mirror or a mural? It might be the former since it reflects what is just a few blocks away at the very shoreline of the Pacific Ocean where gray whales ply their migratory paths annually. Do you think they love us enough to paint the human species onto their deep-water murals? [2020]

Amarillo, Texas, USA

Much of the world celebrates the first of May as Labour Day or Workers' Day. The United States does not, preferring instead the first Monday of September. In fact, even the idea of a day to celebrate labor, and the 8-hour work day, was a hard sell in the U.S., especially during an era when wealthy industrialists held almost total power. [2017]