Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Tag: Cornell

  • Ithaca, Part 2 (Waterfalls)

    Some sources claimed the presence of “over 150 waterfalls within 10 miles” of Ithaca, New York.  I guess it depends on how they’re defined.  Even so, waterfalls seemed to pop into view just about anywhere we looked.  As numerous T-shirts and bumper stickers around town reminded us, “Ithaca is Gorges.” We squeezed a lot of…

  • Ithaca, Part 1 (Four Busy Days)

    We can drive from our home outside of Washington, DC to Ithaca, New York surprisingly easily.  All it takes is about six hours in the car over some pretty scenic roads.  I’ve loved New York’s Finger Lake Region for many years, one of the few places I’ve ever returned to for repeated vacations.  We didn’t…

  • Catbird Seat

    “In the catbird seat” is an idiomatic expression in the United States. But is that true anywhere else? I don’t know. Essentially it means “a position of great prominence or advantage” (Merriam-Webster). Regardless, this was a rather unusual expression. What exactly did it mean, I wondered for so many years. Even so I never considered…

  • Résumé Bait and Switch

    New reader “Thomas” sent an email to 12MC concerning an institution of higher learning seemingly out of place geographically. The University of California has a number of affiliated campuses, although none of them are located in Pennsylvania. Yet, oddly there’s a California University of Pennsylvania. As always, there was a twist to the situation as…

  • I Spy… the Street View Guy

    Thank you for indulging me while I turned 12MC into a travelogue for a couple of weeks and then took a brief hiatus after I returned. Your patience will be rewarded. I’m rejuvenated now, and it’s time for more geo-oddity goodness. I like looking behind the scenes, poking behind public façades. That’s why I was…