Category: Nature
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Things I Wonder
I maintain a long list of potential topics on a spreadsheet and currently it stretches several hundred rows. Some of my story ideas remain on the sheet for months or years. That’s because they must have been interesting enough to record but not substantial enough to create a standalone article. Let me winnow down the…
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Off Season
I read an interesting article the other day about Chincoteague, a tiny town on Virginia’s eastern shore (map). It’s a place probably best known for its annual wild pony roundup. The ponies live on Assateague Island just a short distance away. So each year a local volunteer fire department and it’s “saltwater cowboys” swim the…
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Disestablished National Parks
Last summer 12MC reader “Scott” provided me with a boatload of National Park trivia. I continue to mine that for article suggestions. With that, I’m going pursue an angle that might be little known, or maybe just to me. One often thinks of everything associated with National Parks as perpetual. After all, their goals include…
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Carbon
I noticed an interesting theme in a small town in Eastland County, Texas. Carbon, population 224, seems dedicated to all things carbon as befitting its name. Check out its fascinating array of streets featuring carbon in various allotropes, primarily although not exclusively in the form of coal and its derivatives. Carbon-themed streets I found: Coal…
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Sundog
I mentioned Goldfield, Nevada recently. There I noticed a street called Sundog Avenue that looked like the kind of place where one could experience a sundog in person. Then I tucked the thought away for a few days until I had more time to explore it. A sundog describes a specific atmospheric condition that allows…
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Circling the MDVAWV Tripoint
I tagged along while my wife attended a work-related conference in West Virginia’s eastern panhandle. The in-laws watched the kids back home. That provided me with a rare couple of days to wander around the woods while my wife schmoozed with conference attendees. The area was amazingly rich in significant events that shaped a nation.…
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Jackson Volcano
I’ve been inundated with search engine queries for the last several days about a city with a volcano and lots of brewpubs. They’ve been landing on the guest article that Marc Alifanz wrote about Portland, Oregon, which I think is probably the correct answer to the readers’ question. I’ve tried to find the source. Often…
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Earthquake in DC!
Holy crap! We just had an earthquake. I’m on the top floor — 11th floor — of an office building in Crystal City, just across the river from Washington, DC. The building actually ROCKED for awhile. Lots of people have evacuated the office buildings. I can see them out on the streets. Me? I’m still…
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National Preserves
I mentioned 12MC reader Scott a couple of weeks ago in reference to the Park You Cannot Visit. He also set me up with a lot of other National Park Service trivia that I’ll cover from time-to-time as I’m able to work it into the publication schedule. As an example, he wondered if I’d ever…
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Utah Adventure, Part 1
The hunt for geo-oddities in northern Utah is well underway. The family will want to visit more recognizable sights so I’ll have to mix in a few “normal” tourist activities along the way. I have to maintain a careful balance. Thus I need just enough to keep them entertained while giving me an opportunity to…