Williams, Arizona, USA

Thanksgiving is over. Let the ride to Christmas begin! It is now, on this Monday after Thanksgiving, socially acceptable to proudly display your winter decorations. As for those who got Santa and the reindeer out of the attic on the day after Halloween: Shame on you! [2019]

New Paltz, New York, USA

Five years and counting.

Make the most of the next twelve.

Then starts adulthood.

[1995]

Cape May, New Jersey, USA

The Cape-to-Cape ferry across the mouth of the Delaware River connects Cape Henlopen, Delaware, with Cape May, New Jersey, where an historic light tower and beautiful broad beaches beckon the year around. [2020]

Lewes, Delaware, USA

Everyone who takes the Cape-to-Cape ferry across the mouth of the Delaware River gets to see Lewes's Harbor of Refuge Light. Wouldn't we all like to find a beacon of hope guiding us into our own personal harbor of refuge right now? Can you name the two capes connected by the ferry? [2020]

Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA

By virtue of its nickname, the Ocean State, Rhode Island has an enviable caboodle of lighthouses. Some, like Point Judith Light, are on extremities of the mainland; others are on islands; and still others are on the rivers that drain into the Narragansett Bay. Let's all give thanks for America's lighthouses. [2019]

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

People of Toronto: The Annex is a popular student-oriented neighborhood of Toronto that exhibits all the fine qualities of mixed-used development: plentiful services, arts opportunities, convenience, and walkability, all on top of a land use plan that was born almost 150 years ago. [2011]

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

People of Toronto: The Baldwin Steps (110 of them) transcend an escarpment that marks the edge of Lake Ontario's Pleistocene predecessor. Just think: They were almost wiped off the city's cultural landscape in the 1960s by an expressway! Now they are a major open space resource and recreational corridor. [2010]

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

People of Toronto: Toronto crossed the line in 2016 when the Census proclaimed it a majority minority city. For the first time, those of European descent were found to constitute less than half the population. But even those of Euro descent come in dozens and dozens of ethnicities. [2013]

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

People of Melbourne: "If a rhinoceros was heading your way, you'd get out of the way, right? Well, a tram weighs about the same as 30 rhinos." The Yarra Trams that serve Melbourne, including the Queen Victoria Market, want people to be alert around trams, so they have dispatched a crash of rhinos around the city. Get it? Avoid the crash. [2011]

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

People of Melbourne: After you exercise on or along Melbourne's Yarra River, head over to the old Queen Vic and treat yourself and your kids to some happiness. It's only a few blocks away. [2011]

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

People of Melbourne: Most cities are short of open space, but Melbourne has the Yarra River. For some, it is a better open space resource than hectares of parkland. Even in winter (July!), the call to row is irresistible, and shells proliferate. [2011]

Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Plazas are typical of Mexican urbanism. Here, one of Guadalajara's neighborhoods boasts a plaza whose elements fit the model almost perfectly: (1) an ornate fountain, (2) a canopy of shade, (3) a brigade of whitewashed tree trunks,(4) a residential littoral, (5) an adulatory statue, and (5) an assemblage of people setting the re-set button. [2008]

South Mills, North Carolina, USA

South Mills is located at the southern edge of the Great Dismal Swamp, through which passes a segment of the original Intracoastal Waterway. It connects the Albemarle Sound with the Chesapeake Bay. Today, much of the traffic is pleasure boats. They must wait for scheduled openings of the draw bridges before they can pass. [2020]

Cape May, New Jersey, USA

"Thank You to everyone helping to get through this pandemic especially all the frontline works, delivery people, pharmacy and grocery employees, teachers and medical and essential employees. You are all Heroes!" And, thank you for spelling out what we all wanted to say. [2020]

New York, New York, USA

The handful of skinny towers that now cluster around the southern shore of Central Park are the face of vertical urbanism, an attempt to improve (1) the quality of the environment by using less land for urban expansion and (2) the quality of living by bringing people together in numbers enough to sustain a diversity of urban services both private and public. [2018]

Williamsburg, Virginia, USA

Duke of Gloucester (DOG!) Street has changed since last year at this time. Covid hit in March and everything closed. With summer, however, people wanted a return to normalcy. TJ (see him?) reminded them to abide by the science. That meant only open spaces would do for rekindling friendships. Voila! Tables where there were none before. [2020]

Palm Springs, California, USA

Windmills by the thousands provide Palm Springs (and environs) with electicity all year long. They take advantage of the Westerly winds gushing through the San Gordonio Pass. To the north and south, mountain ridges block the winds. Only here are they channeled eastward to create the windiest place in California. [2015]

Dewey Beach, Delaware, USA

It is Friday the 13th: Don't be afraid, but do be prepared for any bad luck that might come rushing at you from the deep-seated memories of childhood nightmares. It is rather common to live through two Friday the 13ths in a single year, but we will have to wait until 2026 to live through a year with three. The last time that occurred was 2015. [1995]

Phoenix, Arizona, USA

When the Evans House was built in 1893, Phoenix had a population of little more than 3,000 souls. Of that nineteenth-century past, only a few visual reminders remain. Here is one of them. Wrapped around it, in a rather harmonious relationship, is the Department of Environmental Quality. [2019]

Hyde Park, New York, USA

Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt are buried here in the Rose Garden next to the "Big House," which he loved and she didn't. The humble tombstone was designed by FDR himself and cut from Vermont marble, the same marble used for the Washington Monument, the Supreme Court, and the U.N. headquarters in New York. [2019]

Hyde Park, New York, USA

Springwood (known by all as Hyde Park) was originally built in 1826 but has been remodeled extensively and expanded since then. In 1882, Franklin Roosevelt was born here and it became his getaway from the White House during his presidency. [2019]

Hyde Park, New York, USA

More than three decades ago the eyes of the world were on the city of Berlin as the central symbol of the Cold War began to crumble. It is amazing how fragments of that wall made their way around the world as permanent memorials to the evils of division. The two colorful silhouettes that stand in back of the FDR Library were born of the Berlin Wall. [2019]

Helena, Montana, USA

On this date in 1889, Montana became the 41st state to join the United States of America. The capitol opened in 1902. Lady Liberty stands atop the dome. On the day this picture was taken, the air was charged with smoke from the massive Pacific coast wildfires. [2020]

Helena, Montana, USA

Maybe nobody loves downtown Helena as much as this kid. With him are his two favorite treats: grandpa and ice cream. [2020]

Helena, Montana, USA

Not too many families have a talking horse in their front yard. Could that be Mr. Ed telling us to "pray for those who have experienced Covid19 and/or have lost someone"? Never heard of Mr. Ed? Take a course on the black-and-white 1960s. [2020]

Mountain Home, Idaho, USA

Advice from the Little Prince: "Let your dream consume your life lest your life consume your dream." Le Petite Prince is among the most widely read books of all time. It has been translated into over 300 languages. Who is the author? Dévorez la fresque murale. [2020]

Eno State Park, North Carolina

These fungi must be finding enough nutrients to survive on a charred tree limb. In fact, they look so positively healthy, they may have found the forest-floor's banquet hall. [2020]

Woodstown, New Jersey, USA

Hope springs eternal. At least some of these ubiquitous yard signs are clever. Now, let's hope they all disappear. Maybe we should think creatively about non-election yard signs that emphasize unity over division. [2020]

Washington, DC, USA

 

WWJD? What would Jesus do? He would definitely not vote for the incumbent President! He would definitely not support separating almost 3000 children from their parents at the border. He would definitely not support anyone throwing children in cages. He would definitely not support an administration which cared so little about family values. [2018]

Wellington, Colorado, USA

It is far too late to hand those ballots to your letter carrier now, especially if you live in Colorado which ranks as one of the worst states for on-time mail delivery. Did you know, though, that 40 million ballots have been cast by mail already this election year? [2019]