Just Passed Go 
I’ve seen a couple stories recently that grabbed my attention as unusual animal stories, or a situation where an animal is clearly an outlier in relation to its species. The first was a story in the New York Times about a study that found traces of cocaine in a sample of sharks near Brazil. If … Read more
I was driving up to Rhode Island for the Newport Jazz Festival, and got off the highway to get some lunch near Clinton, Connecticut. But before I got a bite to eat, I found my attention pulled into the parking lot of the Key to the Past Antique Center. There were a lot of interesting … Read more
While making the drive through the Florida Keys (starting in Miami, with Key West as the end destination), day 2 of the trip found us getting hit with very hard rain, to the point where it was sometimes hard to see the road in front of us! As we were going through Islamorada, we saw … Read more
My girlfriend was in Miami and sent me this picture … when have you ever seen one bird (or duck, or goose) use another as a landing pad in the water? The term “sitting duck” can be applied to this passive goose who is providing a dry landing for his or her friend. Or maybe … Read more
I’m using a public restroom in Mystic, CT, and see the face of a bearded man under the Sloan flush button. I know, this sounds creepy, but it’s really just a case of pareidolia creeping in again. Do you see the face in the image above? Perhaps not, so I’ll help to illustrate it. Here’s … Read more
I love going to the beach, enjoying the ocean, both from an observer’s vantage point (relaxing on the beach watching the waves come in), but also being in the water, riding the waves, and feeling the cool relief of the ocean on a hot summer day. I’ve had a season pass at Ocean Grove the … Read more
I’ve long had an interest in the Florida Keys, the idea of a series of islands connected by a highway has intrigued me. I didn’t know much about the Florida Keys in advance of going, other than three basic concepts: 1, it’s where the Netflix drama “Bloodline” is set; 2, it’s where a former in-law’s … Read more
I was on a day trip, exploring Beacon, NY, when I noticed this funny sign in the front window of the Beacon Library. It reads: “Dinosaurs Didn’t Read and now They’re Extinct. Coincidence?” A pretty funny idea from the local librarian to use some humor to get people inside their doors. The idea of a … Read more
On my travels walking around Pittsburgh, I noticed some brown pods laying in the street, and while I’ve seen these things before, I didn’t know what they were called or what they were from. A little research tells me that they’re “honey locust pods.” The honey locust tree (scientific name “gleditsia triacanthos”), is a deciduous … Read more
I was on a day trip exploring various parts of western New Jersey when I rolled into Frenchtown, NJ. I parked the car and started to wander, when a store sign caught my attention: “Casa Bizarro.” Who can ignore a name like that? I went in to see what inhabited this location that inspired a … Read more
