Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Twelve Mile Circle

  • A Week in Maine, Part II

    We set up shop in the town of Rockland, in the heart of Maine’s midcoast region (map). This is a great staging point for daylong excursions up and down the waterfront, and out among the scattered islands accessible only by ferry. Days are pleasant, nights are cool, and light ocean breezes refresh the soul. I’ve…

  • A Week in Maine, Part I

    Twelve Mile Circle has a split personality, part travelogue part geo-oddity freak show. I’m in Maine at the moment so I will be focusing on the former. Those of you who enjoy the trivia better than the travel may want to check back in about a week. I’m about to embark on a series of…

  • Place Name Palindromes

    A palindrome is a word or phrase that is identical whether read forward or backward. Simple examples would include the words MOM and DAD. I love palindromes and wondered if I could combine this concept with some odd geography. I soon discovered that truly every esoteric subject has a home on Wikipedia when I found…

  • Just How Wide is Hudson Bay, Really?

    Everything about Canada is larger than life. It’s difficult to wrap one’s mind around its incredible breadth and scale. I came across a tantalizing fact that I thought might help conceptualize its vastness. Actually it’s a clever little illusion, some geography-slight-of-hand. In fact I think it’s more enjoyable as a mind-bender than as a trivia…

  • More Strange Signs

    I naturally want to stop for a photo whenever I come across an odd sign. This isn’t a new fixation – I’ve posted a batch before. So this is the latest installment. I won’t be discussing anything intellectual or educational today. Simply sit back and enjoy. Florida Panthers; not just a hockey team I would…

  • Counting for the Sake of Counting

    People count everything. We love to record our achievements and accomplishment however mundane others may consider them. I see this in birders who trek to remote wetlands or woodlands to add to their life lists. I also recognize one of my favorite blogs that counts visits to each museum in Connecticut. Additionally, I myself count…

  • …and Swains Island

    I came across a document for a government program recently that restricted its eligibility to “All United States citizens and nationals (residents of American Samoa and Swains Island).” In the United States all citizens are nationals. However, not all nationals are citizens so the distinction needs to be clarified parenthetically. Truly it’s not an issue…

  • Southernmost Northern Permafrost

    Permafrost is defined as soil that maintains a temperature at or below freezing for two complete summers and an intervening winter. Actual “frost” doesn’t need to be present. Also the extent of permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere varies dramatically. It depends on many factors including topography, seasonal weather patterns, and permanent climate change. There are…

  • Winnipeg’s Famous Namesake

    My young son went to day camp at the local nature center on Friday. The topic was bears and he was pleased to spring a “did you know” on us as we sat around the dinner table. So he proved once again that anyone can learn important lessons from a seven-year-old. His mastery of animal…

  • The Tiny One

    Which is the smallest of the following cities located within the United Kingdom: Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast or London? Most assuredly this is a trick question. Try not to over-think it. OK, I can see all of our readers in the UK raising their hands, saying “pick me, I know, I know.” Of course you do,…

Latest Comments

  3. Osage Orange trees are fairly common in Northern Delaware. I assumed they were native plants. As kids we definitely called…

  4. Enough of them in Northern Delaware that they don’t stand out at all until the fruit drops in the fall.…

  5. That was its original range before people spread it all around. Now it’s in lots of different places, including Oklahoma.