Tangier Island, Virginia, USA

When there are only eight graduates in the senior class of Tangier Island School, you can honor each one with a pole banner of their own. They oversee Main Street and introduce visitors to their island home. The only mystery is why there are 7 boys and only 1 girl among the graduates. [2022]

Tangier Island, Virginia, USA

What are the preferred modes of transit on Tangier? Walking and golf carts. In fact, there was a time when there were no motorized vehicles on the island. Today, there are quite a few utility vehicles and a car or two. You only need wheels if you are traveling to the mainland, so most islanders garage their cars in Crisfield, Maryland. [2022]

Tangier Island, Virginia, USA

It may be a single island, but the habitable portions constitute only three ridges: Main Ridge (skyline seen here), West Ridge, and Canton Ridge. In between the ridges are marshes and slivery fingers of the Chesapeake Bay. Tangier is accessible only by boat and small aircraft. [2022]

Bismarck, North Dakota, USA

Why should streets get all the attention? On a street it would matter if donations sprawled out onto the pavement, but alleys can be a little more tolerant. Some cities have abundant alleyways (think: Pennsylvania). Others have none. Alleys really took a hard hit with the great suburbanization movement after World War II. [2021]

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Says Wyland: "We know now that water connects all the countries of the world… Our goal with these projects… has been to convey the urgency of conservation issues to the public. The health of our ocean and waterways are in jeopardy, not to mention the thousands of marine animals and plants that face extinction if we do nothing." [2011]

Jamestown, Rhode Island, USA

Before the young republic had even a constitution, it had the Jamestown windmill. It is located on a ridge of high land that forms the backbone of its island home where it can catch the steady winds that blow in from the Narragansett Bay. Can you see how the blades can be turned to meet the direction of the wind? [2019]

Old Bethpage, New York, USA

Dutch Barns looked a lot like English barns, but there was one main difference. The doors were on the gable end of the barn. Old Bethpage Village on Long Island has preserved the heritage of both English and the Dutch in the history of New York. [1983]

Old Bethpage, New York, USA

The English barn diffused to the United States, in this case Long Island, with agricultural pioneers. Given its simple design, it became one of America's most common barn types. Settlers from other parts of Europe gave it some competition, however. The Dutch brought with them the Dutch barn and the Germans brought the bank barn. [1983]

Leiston, England, UK

Here on the grounds of Leiston Abbey is a prototypical English barn, identified by it gable roof and its doors on the long side of the structure. In this case, the roof is thatched. The English barn became one of the pioneering barn types of British North America. [1984]

Tel Aviv, Israel

Perhaps translating your name into the local language, Hebrew, will not be enough to keep you company in business. Just ask Subway. The chain closed its Israeli operations, including this store on Dizengoff Square, in 2004. Their operations in Jordan and Georgia seemed to work out better. [1996]

Caye Caulker, Belize

It's been two months since the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, but there is still time to enjoy some time with family and friends. For the ultimate get-way, try the island of Caye Caulker (key call-ker). [2015]

Sanahin, Armenia

A thousand years ago, Sanahin Monastery pulsed with the activity of Armenian monks, priests, scholars, and scribes. The small domed building is St. Grigor Chapel. In the background is the Scriptorium. [2015]

Mumbai, India

What's throwing a little shade here on the streets of Mumbai? A tree that deserves your respect, not your contempt. Even after it fell over, this tree continued to grow. It simply changed directions. What is the purpose of all the planters stationed around it? [2011]

Jogjakarta, Indonesia

You might think you are in Indonesia, but you are really in the Pokémon Universe. Meet Pikachu. Put him together with Hello Kitty, and you've got the two most famous icons of Japanese pop culture. Can you believe Pikachu is already 25 years old? [2016]

Scheveningen, Netherlands

A contemporary of the Chesapeake's New Cape Henry Lighthouse invigilates the coast of Holland. They are both cast iron towers, but the Dutch one outscores the American one on the prism spectrum. It has 12 sides. Virginia's has only eight. [1996]

Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

Most cities don't even have one lighthouse. Virginia Beach has two. They are located on Cape Henry, which guards the southern entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. The Old Lighthouse was the first public works project of the newly formed U.S. government. The New Cape Henry Lighthouse is really not so new. It is approaching 150 years old. [1984]

Marion, North Carolina, USA

Few people were on the streets two years ago in Marion. Those who were wore masks. By that point in the Covid-19 epidemic, just five months in, more than 156,000 people in the United States had died of Covid-19. By January of 2021, five months in the future, the number of deaths had increased to almost 357,000. Now, it's over a million. [2020]

Marion, North Carolina, USA

Few people were on the streets two years ago in Marion. Those who were wore masks. Five months previously, only one person in the United States had died of Covid-19. When this picture was taken (exactly two years ago), the number nationwide was up to more than156,000. [2020]

Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, USA

Berkeley Springs is one of the great arts towns of the Appalachians. So, a colorful mural is an appropriate addition to the downtown landscape. Right across the street are the springs themselves. They have been attracting visitors since colonial times. [2021]

Sisseston, South Dakota, USA

Sisseston lies astride one of the great geographical divides on the North American continent: the 20-inch rainfall line, a transition zone from the wooded landscapes of the east to the grassy plains of the west. It is a location well worth Nicollet Tower. You can find the 20-inch rainfall line on a map by using the 100th meridian as a proxy. [2007]

Mountain Home, Idaho, USA

Food trucks like Mely's have the power to turn outdoor parks into fair-weather dinettes. Wouldn't it be great if every meal could be a picnic? if every meal were blessed by the elements? if every meal were free of screens? [2020]

Belle Fontaine, Alabama, USA

Before these tomatoes ripened to a bright red, they were green. Some of their brethren were probably hauled off to a frying pan to make fried green tomatoes. In this month's issue of the Food Channel Magazine, which U.S. state was assigned fried green tomatoes as its most representative taste? The answer is in the title to this post. [2017]

Jeffersonville, Indiana, USA

The morning roundup seems to be going as usual. In this case, they are rounding up the e-scooters that litter the city from the day before. After an inspection, the scooters will be repositioned in situ or taken off to some other site. They are surely geo-tagged: for now just the scooters, in the future the workers. [2022]

Jeffersonville, Indiana, USA

It looks like he is droning on and on about his new toy, but his friends seem to be listening patiently. What is it that captures their attention? A drone, of course. And the riverfront in Jeff seems perfectly situated to offer them some birds eye views of the Ohio. [2022]

Jeffersonville, Indiana, USA

If steam could power trains, it could power boats as well. It could turn the paddlewheels and keep the Ohio River humming with activity, particularly as it flowed by Louisville and its cross-river neighbor, Jeffersonville. "Jeff" for short, at least recently. In the past, we used to call it "J-ville." [2022]

Millerton, Pennsylvania, USA

It is a bridge and it is covered, but it is not an authentic covered bridge because it rests of two steel I-beams that really do the work of carrying the traffic across the stream. This "stringer" serves simply as a portal to the estate on the other side. If you visit, the owner may even be there to meet you. [2007]

Grantsville, Maryland, USA

The Spruce Forest covered bridge was not an engineering landmark. Nevertheless, it served an important function. It was the portal into a popular Appalachian craft village. Unfortunately, Spruce Forest was hit by a severe wind storm in 2020 and the bridge was destroyed (along with other buildings and many trees). Expect it to be rebuilt. [2010]

Cornish, New Hampshire, and Windsor, Vermont, USA

The Cornish-Windsor covered bridge connects two states across the Connecticut River. From portal to portal, it's the longest in the United States and a civil engineering landmark. Remember, though, you must "walk your horses or pay two dollars fine." [2018 and 1991]

Hagerman, Idaho, USA

Wool became the economic base of the Hagerman Valley after the railroads came through in the late 1800s. To honor the pioneering sheep ranchers, many of whom were Basques, one of the locals commissioned a full-scale memorial to the sheep "trailin' home." [2020]

Louisville, Kentucky, USA

While you are seeking shade to ameliorate the heat, turtles are seeking sunshine to maximize every degree. That's because you are warm-blooded, and they are cold-blooded. The way these turtles are competing for space on that log reminds us, though, how much we have in common. We all want to be in the same places. Their log is our Manhattan Island. [2022]

Oak Hall, Virginia, USA

Don't you love these roadside sermons? This one is well-suited for the times: mid-July to early August in Tidewater, Virginia. If heat records are going to be set, they will be set now. But, if "you think it's hot here . . ." [2022]