Port Neches, Texas, USA

No crude oil tanker should look this good. She must have just emerged from an overhaul. No mooring station should look this good either. The Eagle Kuantan seems to be ready for a movie shoot in this ersatz park along the Neches River. Given the name Kuantan, in what country do you think this vessel is registered? Sounds Malay, doesn't it? (Answer: Singapore) [2022]

Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Here is a secular credo that seems to hit all the right notes. Yet, some would take exception to each of these statements. Why? What is your personal credo? Credo is Latin for "I believe." Do you ever make exceptions that violate your own beliefs? [2021]

Topeka, Kansas, USA

". . . the people of the Territory of Kansas . . . on the twenty-ninth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, did form for themselves a constitution and State government . . . and asked the Congress of the United States to admit the said Territory into the Union as a State." A year and a half later, in 1861, Congress complied. Happy Birthday, Kansas! [2021]

Washington, DC, USA

A+ for cross-pollination of ideas! If you think the colors and geometric patterns of the desert Southwest are out of place in humid Washington, D.C., consider where you really are: Southwest DC! Why not bring the place-based hues of the sparselands to the urban landscapes of our nation's capital? See the capitol dome? [2021]

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Which statements apply to this bench in Boston Commons on this warm autumn day? (a) Someone has set up housekeeping on the bench and aims to be there for the duration. (b) Someone has turned the bench into a music conservatory to rival the Burklee College of Music. (c) Someone aspires to entertain friends on the bench and has saved them a seat. [2021]

Marksville, Louisiana, USA

The "Cajun cottage" is one of the most distinguishing features of Acadiana's vernacular landscape. Note the porches (unusual for there to be two!) and roof lines. In the 1970s, Marksville had the foresight to rescue a really old one for the sake of generations to come. Below is what the structure looked like when it was first moved to town. [2022]

Pineville, Louisiana, USA

Want to warm up on a cold winter day? Spend a few minutes in front of the new mural on Pineville's Main Street. It's the showiest thing in town. Ironically, it was sponsored by Louisiana Fireplace, so you might expect something grittier. But maybe it's not such a contradiction: Both a fireplace and this mural bring you something bright and warm. [2022]

Oscar, Louisiana, USA

River or lake? False River was a meander of the Mississippi River until the 1700s; then, flooding cut it off, and it became an oxbow lake. Now, it is a cottage-crowded, duck-hunting, trout-fishing paradise. Note the French long-lots visible on the false-color image below. Those long-lots testify to False River's Acadian heritage. [2022]

Zurich, Switzerland, and East Berlin, Pennsylvania, USA

Even though he was one of the fathers of the Reformation, Ulrich Zwingli makes only a rare appearance on the religious landscape of the Christian world. But, here in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, a United Church of Christ keeps Zwingli's name alive, and apparently his message, too: "We are called to reform." [1984 and 2014]

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Apples are not a tropical fruit, so what country supplies them to markets in Cambodia? New Zealand. Cherries are not a tropical fruit, so what country supplies them to markets in Cambodia? USA. Amazing that freshness can be delivered over such distances! Amazing that Cambodians are now wealthy enough to partake (remember the 1970s)! [2016]

Glasgow, Scotland, UK

Argyll Arcade is a covered passage along which Glasgow's jewelers compete for customers. The idea of shopping arcades spread widely, beginning early in the 1800s. Argyll dates from 1827. It was succeeded by even bigger covered shopping centers such as the Galleria in Milan. It was preceded by covered souks in the Near East such as the one in Aleppo. [2017]

Larnaca, Cyprus

Breakwater lights guide mariners into Larnaca's fishing harbor. If your walk brings you harborside after the boats come in, expect the freshest fish in the Mediterranean at the fish market. On the other hand, you and your rod could keep walking to the end of the breakwater, where you could reel 'em in yourself. [2004]

Cardiff, Wales, UK

Cardiff's Mermaid Quay was developed over two decades ago. To the new waterfront was brought the Helwick Sands lightship, where it became a "floating Christian centre." Light towers have long been a favorite symbol of Christianity. Alas, the ship has since been moved to a harbor in England. [2015]

Portsmouth, England,UK

Portsmouth's Southsea Castle is now a tourist attraction. Fortunately, the fortification has a lieutenant in charge of marketing: a lighthouse (dressed like a jailbird). These are two landscape features that most people will go out of their way to visit: castles and lighthouses. What will you go out of your way to visit? [2011]

Cairo, Egypt

KFC stands for Kentucky Fried Chicken. In Arabic, the "Fried" is dropped. Read from right to left, the sign reads Chicken (translated) Kentucky (transliterated). Colonel Sanders, himself, really doesn't translate very well, but chicken has always been popular throughout the Arab realm, and almost everywhere in the world. [2000]

Amman, Jordan

Read the top sign right to left. Read the bottom sign left to right. That's the difference between Arabic and English. And, that's why the colors are reversed. The Arabic alphabet is relatively easy to learn because it is a phonetic alphabet: Letters stand for specific sounds. The two blue dots and two orange dots (top) sound like the e/E in FedEx. [2001]

Fes, Morocco

Arabic doesn't have a nice round O sound like the one you hear when you say Mobil. Arabs use the U sound instead: See the red letters in the dueling Mobil signs? What's the third language to show up here? French, of course. As for the handshake: That grip is so American. The Arab handshake is soft and gentle, not a vice to show someone how powerful you are. [1989]

New York, New York, USA

Urban textures: Summit One Vanderbilt is the city's newest (and second highest) observation deck. Here is where you can be one with the skyline, and feel superior to everything you see through those glass panes. Transparent, translucent, and reflective surfaces combine with shiny balloons masquerading as cloud droplets to disorient and dazzle. [2021]

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Urban textures: Here's the feel of vertigo and unorthodoxy, the feel of the city known to "the creative class." Everything is relative and can be seen from multiple perspectives. As cities started to exist outside the box, right angles were replaced by obliques and curves, and windows by reflective surfaces. [2021]

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Urban textures: Here's the feel of order and organization, the feel of the city known to "the organization man." Everything in a box of its own. For the suits of the 1950s, every aspect of work and personal life was compartmentalized. Then, our cities got the message: Think outside the box. [2008]

St. Petersburg, Florida, USA

The street signs on Snell Isle are far from standard issue. They look like they could be drawn from a museum (a) of natural history (see the panther?) or (b) of art (see the Roman frieze?). As for the panther: The neighborhood is his former habitat. And, as for the demigod trying to be helpful: Could be either Bes or Bacchus. [2009]

Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA

Abnormal is how you might describe this street sign. It's hardly standard issue. Its placement at ground level comes as a surprise, and its form is reminiscent of a frieze, even down to the mosaic tiles. Perhaps for this neighborhood, normal street signs would be just too pedestrian (that means "commonplace," according to Merriam-Webster). [2008]

Ottawa, Kansas, USA

In contrast to standard-issue street signs, the wayfinding aids in Ottawa deviate from the norm. They are not even near eye level: They are on the ground. And they deviate from the form we expect, too. They take the shape of three-dimensional polyhedrons rather than two-dimensional planes. In placement, though, no surprises: They are on the corners. [2021]

Newport, Rhode Island, USA

What does a standard-issue street sign look like? Take a gander at Thames Street. Nothing more, nothing less than what we need for wayfinding. And, while not particularly aesthetic, it does no harm to the streetscape. Even its location in our visual field, at slightly above arms reach, is where we expect to get the information we need. [2008]

Helena, Montana, USA

In the background: Helena's history. In the foreground: Helena's future. The former: motionless and without life. The latter: high energy and on the move. Yet, the past as portrayed on the wall seems to offer many windows and platforms from which to watch the future take form. [2020]

South Bethany, Delaware, USA

On the other side of that dune is the Atlantic Ocean. In order to protect the nearby Delaware Bay from enemy attack during World War II, over a dozen observation towers were built along the coast between Cape May, New Jersey, and Fenwick Island, Delaware. This is Tower #3, soon to be a magnet for coastal tourism. [2021]

Hatteras Village, North Carolina, USA

Kayaks for rent, but not this time of year. They are on their winter break, and their only duty is to pretty-up a fabled island on the Outer Banks, an island where it is difficult to find anything open in January and February. Why should kayak be one of your favorite words? Because it's a palindrome. [2019]

Steele, North Dakota, USA

Say hello to Sandy, world's largest sandhill crane. She may be the world's oldest, too, since she just reached her majority. Let's hope she's still of reproductive age since those houses on the horizon look like habitat destroyers on the move. The leading cause of species loss is habitat destruction, both here and everywhere. [2021]

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

It's only a few days into the New Year, and already our thoughts are turning to spring. Keep that rain coming: The gloomier the weather in January, the bloomier the colors in May. [2021]

Apple Valley, Utah, USA

Cattle Valley might be a more appropriate name than Apple Valley. And, were it not for that water pump windmill (or "wind engine"), even cattle could not live in southern Utah. Scenes like this are seen all over the intermountain West where watering holes must be engineered to keep the ranching economy afloat. [2019]

Greenmount, Pennsylvania, USA

Eating pork and sauerkraut (with mashed potatoes) on New Year's Day will bring you luck in the year ahead. Just ask anybody from Pennsylvania Dutch country. What will they will be serving on July 1? Chicken Corn Soup, another Pennsylvania Dutch tradition. By the way, don't call us Pennsylvania Germans. We are Pennsylvania Dutch! [2021]