Category: Event
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I Just Liked the Photo
I take lots of photographs, not that I’m any good at it. I’m entirely a point-and-click photographer devoid of technical expertise or serious artistic talent. Sometimes I surprise myself. The stars and the moon align on rare occasions and I actually capture an image that speaks to me on a personal level. I’m sure any…
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The Danger of a Small Sample Size
Fair warning, little geographic content makes it onto Twelve Mile Circle today. Mostly I’ll focus on statistics. No, no, don’t go running for the door quite yet. It will be fun and actually the statistical slant will be relatively mild, grossly overly simplified with sweeping generalizations and involve no actual mathematics. I went to a…
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But It Used to be Jackass Junction
Yeehaw Junction, Florida: right near… nothing; in the middle of… nothing. It’s nearly an hour inland from the sea. It’s also an hour south of Orlando. So it’s nowhere near the two most common reasons anyone would ever visit Florida. Set among drainage canals and swamp, Yeehaw Junction exists as little more than a rest…
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Odd Reality
My web access logs started sizzling with viewers on my Point Roberts – Stranded by an International Border page. People seem to love this entry so it doesn’t surprise me to register at least a few hits each day. However it mushroomed to Crazy Level recently, and all with unique IP addresses. I can’t find…
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A Capital Fourth
A Rare Opportunity Something awesome dropped into my lap a few days before the July 4 Independence Day celebrations. My family and I received an invitation to view the fireworks on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The vantage was a rooftop balcony only two blocks away from the action. A lifetime can pass without…
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1,000!
Why is this man standing here foolishly next to an otherwise nondescript road sign, waist-high in weeds by a railroad track? What is so special about Crawford County, Wisconsin? Well, nothing much, although I’m sure its residents would say otherwise. Actually this was a very special location for me. It represented the 1,000th county in…
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San Francisco Chronicle Geography Quiz
I’ve been holding this one in reserve for awhile in case I needed an “easy” topic, and I really need one today for reasons I’ll explain later. The San Francisco Chronicle has been holding a geography quiz for several years. There aren’t any prizes, just matters of pride, and it’s a lot of fun figuring…
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Reconciliation
I mentioned Brian Brown’s wonderful Vanishing South Georgia website previously as I explored leaf-vein patterns left behind by swamp drainage. Brian uses an interesting minimalist approach. It allows imagery to portray a wistful almost melancholy longing for a heritage slowly slipping away. He’s attempting to preserve it all visually before it decomposes back into the…
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Wallace Redux
I’ve never been to Wallace, Idaho but I simply couldn’t get that place out of my head in spite of the controversy[1] surrounding its Center of the Universe claim. Seemingly, there is an odd story for each of its 960 residents. This one involves a stoplight. It all comes down to geography and in this…
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Center of the Universe
Colonel William R. Wallace built a pioneering homestead within a narrow valley in the northern Idaho panhandle. However, he probably didn’t realize he’d settled at the Center of the Universe. We can forgive that. In 1884 he couldn’t possibly have know he was sitting atop a billion ounces of silver either, or next to what…