Author: Ms. R.

Nearly 300 acres of forest and wetlands make up this peaceful nature preserve on the outskirts of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The calm forests and open meadows are perfect for a fun family hike or picnic. Marshes and swamps border a dune that developed more than 10,000 years ago after the retreat of the Wisconsin Glacier. As the glacier moved and melted away, winter winds picked up tiny bits of sand that piled into large drifts known as sluice dunes. Though……

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The Terrorium Shop is a quaint hidden gem tucked away in Denver, Colorado. What started out as a strange little hobby, blossomed into a business after owner Amber Hage-Ali gifted her partner Ian Johnson with one of her “terroriums,” a glass vessel showcasing a skull with living plants. Johnson, a taxidermist, loved the concept of combining life and death into one artistic vessel. He pushed Hage-Ali to share it with the world. Together they combined their skills to create……

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On the outskirts of Sheffield is the Rivelin Valley Trail, where beautiful riverside walks provide a mixture of nature and the industrial, lined as it is by ruins and remnants of various water wheels’ used to pump water to the mills and steelworks of the city in a bygone age. Not far from the cafe and playground on the site sits a small island in the river, and on that island is a strange chair. Though it looks like……

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In 1865, an enterprising local farmer, Upton Darby, began raising funds to build a schoolhouse for the children of local farmers, which inspired neighbors to pitch in with cash and labor to bring his vision to life. This beautiful one-room schoolhouse was up and running the following year, using distinctive red sandstone from nearby Seneca Quarry.   The school was run by the community for its first 11 years and was taken over by the Montgomery County Public School (MCPS)……

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These small, Small strange-looking buildings can be found along the seafront of Brighton & Hove. These little shelters actually date back to the Victorian era. There are seven, elegant matching cast iron shelters along the seafront. They have provided residents and tourists with a place to rest and relax for many years. What most people don’t know is that these shelters were also used by royalty.  King Edward VII often stayed at Kings Gardens in Hove, with his wife……

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The Canadian fishing village of Glover’s Harbour, Newfoundland (formerly known as Thimble Tickle) claims to be the “Home of the Giant Squid.” It earned this distinction in 1878, when a living giant squid (Architeuthis dux) was discovered stranded offshore. According to contemporary documents, on the morning of November 2, 1878, Stephen Sherring, a local fisherman, and two companions were out fishing when they noticed a large, red, tangled object semi-submerged in the surf near the shore. Believing it to be……

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Since January, the Cromwell Museum in Huntingdon, England, has been selling copies of one of the strangest cookbooks ever published. That’s according to Stuart Orme, the museum’s curator, who’s also written the new introduction to The Court and Kitchen of Elizabeth, Commonly Called Joan Cromwell, the Wife of the Late Usurper. This is no Joy of Cooking. Instead, the book begins with what Orme calls “a very ranty essay” against Oliver Cromwell and his wife, Elizabeth. Cromwell, as the……

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On a hot, sunny morning in June 2006, Reginald Van de Velde was walking in the center of Sorrento, the famous Italian town on the Gulf of Naples, when something struck him. “I was walking on a footbridge to get back to my car,” says the Belgian photographer, “and noticed something unusual under the bridge.” Intrigued, Van de Velde leaned out over the bridge’s protective fence. “Then I saw it, this haunting ruin completely covered in vegetation.” Indeed, about……

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When icebergs make news, it is generally due to something rare and dramatic: a chunk twice the size of New York City, another threatening the ecosystem of an entire island, or, of course, Titanic. But each day human eyes are watching bergs of many shapes and sizes, mapping their movements ​at both ends of the Earth and helping ships steer clear of these icy hazards. Call them iceberg trackers. Or iceberg-ologists. Or ice scientists, perhaps. They peer through clouds……

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