Category: Nature
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Global Warming is Killing Ice Golf
How about an intentionally inflammatory and completely spurious headline that I’m claiming it to be “true” in the name of the infallible Internet? However, the fact remains that no World Ice Golf Championship has been held since 2006. Additionally, one may never be held again. The sponsors canceled it the last few years because of…
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Carolinian Canada
Carolinian Canada? I know the Carolinas (North and South) and I’ve visited parts of Canada, but I’d never seen the two combined before into a single thought. I’d spied that unfamiliar phrase during my exhaustive search for the world’s best place to observe a sunrise and a sunset over water. Naturally it triggered my curiosity.…
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Streetview Beats a Deadhorse
It all started innocently enough as a challenge from loyal reader “Matthias.” He began to ponder various geo-oddities surrounding the northernmost reach of Google Street View. Of course, I was up for a mental adventure after having been trapped in my home for several days due to snow.(1) However, unbeknownst to Matthias, Google Street View…
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Shortest River… or Not
What is a river, exactly? In all seriousness, what differentiates a river from a creek, a brook, a run or some of the other watercourses mapped on Toponymia? Clearly it comes down to size and volume. But where does one draw the line between what should be called a “river” and what should not? So…
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White Christmas
It’s Christmas and I’m not likely to greet many visitors on Twelve Mile Circle today. Nonetheless I thought I’d post something quirky but topical. Consider this a little gift for those of you who did decided to spend some quality time on the web today. Well, between attending church, opening presents, and pursuing holiday cheer,…
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After the Snow Fell
The snow finally halted after an entire day of heavy accumulation. We can call the Washington, DC “Blizzard of 2009” officially over. Now it’s time to dig out the sidewalk. Then we can get the kids over to the sledding hill, and venture through a snowbound neighborhood before the onset of cabin fever. It looks…
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Let it Snow!
It’s snowing here in the Washington, DC area today. Already they’re calling it the snowpocalypse, the snownami, and of course “The Blizzard of 2009”. People around here tend to overreact when it snows because we don’t generally get large accumulations. Naturally everyone stripped the grocery stores bare of milk, bread, and toilet paper as it…
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Revisiting the Chicago River
Many months ago I posted an article with a somewhat cryptic name, “They Reversed the Chicago River.” The story centered on an early twentieth century engineering marvel that actually changed the direction of a significant waterway. It made sure any sewage from the burgeoning City of Chicago wouldn’t foul the city’s drinking water. An Engineering…
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“Ya gotta be jokin’ – No we’re not!”
“Ya gotta be jokin’ – No we’re not!” proclaims the Lake Eyre Yacht Club, the self-determined Worlds most exclusive Yacht Club, where only people who have actually skippered their own vessel on the lake surface can attain full membership. This becomes an extremely daunting task under the best of conditions. Additionally, conditions only allow it…
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A Week in Maine, Part III
I’m quickly approaching the end of my way-to-brief holiday to Maine’s midcoast region. There’s time for one more set of vignettes and then I’ll get back to all the geo-oddities I’ve held in reserve awaiting my return. We spent another day relaxing on the water followed by a day meandering our way further up the…