Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Category: Weather

  • National Mall Flood Plan

    The Washington Post featured an interesting map of the 100-year flood plain in the vicinity of the National Mall in Washington, DC, accompanying the article, Flood plan proposed to protect Washington Mall. It discusses a construction project that’s just about underway. When completed, it will keep a large crescent of land dry if the Potomac…

  • The Impossible 5K

    I was watching the Weather Channel on Sunday morning — yes that’s something I do for fun, thus proving I’m a geek on so many different levels — and they cut to a story on an event called “The Impossible 5K.” My wife is a runner and I pick up a lot of new counties…

  • USA’s Worst Weather

    We’re #1! There are many times in one’s life when that’s a fantastic proclamation and a source of pride. It could be when a favorite sports team wins the big championship. Maybe it’s a university with a top-ranked academic department. Or perhaps it’s a city judged to be the best place to raise a family.…

  • Summer is Over

    Summer is over on the northern side of the equator but probably not for the reasons you expected. I suppose it’s determined by what one considers “end” and “summer” but I’ve recorded unmistakable signs, not so much upon the physical world but through digital fingerprints. There are several candidates that could mark the end of…

  • Hurricane Katrina: Family Memories 5 Years Later

    Has it really been five years already? The memories are starting to fade but they come back to life in ghostly form on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, when the news media forces me to pay attention to them. Our family was one of the lucky ones. I can’t and won’t compare our story to…

  • Kenai Adventure, Part 3 – Wildlife

    Most people probably drive down to Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula for the scenery and the wildlife, and that’s also true for me. Sure, I enjoyed poking around some of the more unusual aspects of Kenai geography but that doesn’t mean I haven’t taken advantage of opportunities to marvel at the natural beauty that attracts every other…

  • Cheesy Orlando

    I’ve arrived at the fourth Orlando described on my previous article and settled in for the week. It was viciously hot in Florida yesterday afternoon when I first arrived, 93° f. / 34° c., but I did manage to get outside and walk about some local sights such as they were. I’m based in the…

  • Further Adventures Along the Mississippi Gulf Coast

    We’ve continued our journey along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, relaxing for the most part and visiting with family, but also taking time to explore a little further. Biloxi Lighthouse We stopped at Biloxi this morning. Most people come here for the casinos but that’s not my thing. I’d heard that the Biloxi Lighthouse had reopened less…

  • 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…

  • 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.…