It was inevitable…eventually. But it’s still a shame. The bold, celestial blue panels of the Kaufman’s Building in downtown Wheeling, West Virginia are coming down. They looked great as recently as December 2024, when I covered the building as an architectural novelty. Truth be told, it’s really more of a façade novelty, because the original
As a general rule I avoid subjects that are extremely timely, that reflect current events as they unfold. First of all, I prefer topics that have more staying power, which is something that rarely characterizes breaking news. Secondly, this blog is always only a side hustle, and, when I begin an article, I never know
Many, many moons ago, during the breezy period right out of schooling when I lived in Southern Louisiana, I had to evacuate from a hurricane or two. (“Breezy” takes on a new meaning.) Though I was indeed a New Orleans resident during the most ill-fated of hurricanes in anyone’s recent memory—Katrina—I coincidentally was out of
“Calm on the surface, paddling furiously underneath.” Back in 2009, when I wrote my first article on wildlife tunnels in an outer suburb of Boston, I figured this might be the first of many features about animal accommodations—slight modifications to the infrastructure that better integrate the human-built environment with the natural world so that animals
Midway through The Year of our Lord 2025, conventional retail continues its unrelenting retreat from the array of preferred American leisure activities. Simply put, fewer and fewer Americans “go shopping” for fun, at least when it comes to the time-tested paradigm of bricks-and-mortar malls and big boxes. The proof is in the pudding: more and
The building featured in this final elegy has probably served as the thumbnail photo more than any other structure, in my nearly sixteen years of writing for this blog. I’m talking about none other than Sanctuary on Penn, FKA First Lutheran Church, FKA Mount Pisgah. The late Gothic building, on the National Register of Historic
The term “stub street” rarely comes up in conversation, yet enough people have a mental image of what it entails that it would be almost patronizing to explain what it means. However, those cognitive apparitions vary so greatly that I’m going to go right ahead and patronize. After all, a consistent definition of a stub
Almost three weeks have come and gone since the tragic crash of American Eagle Flight 5342 with a Blackhawk UH-60 near Ronald Reagan Washington International Airport (DCA), right above the Potomac River, sending the two aircraft and their 67 passengers plunging into the icy water. I visited the George Washington Memorial Parkway, about as close
I could always begin this article with, “Normally I don’t like to write about events right as they unfold”. Needless to say, like much “Breaking News” reporting, they intuitively avoid a deep analysis because any such analysis won’t age well. And I prefer thoughtful analysis over coming out with the latest scoop. Then again, I
First Lutheran Church in the St. Joseph neighborhood of downtown Indianapolis is no more. It suffered catastrophic losses early in the morning of Christmas Eve due to a fire, and while the firefighting crew battled the blaze formidably, it was not able to prevent the roof from caving in, or most of the doors and
It was inevitable…eventually. But it’s still a shame. The bold, celestial blue panels of the Kaufman’s Building in downtown Wheeling, West Virginia are coming down. They looked great as recently as December 2024,
As a general rule I avoid subjects that are extremely timely, that reflect current events as they unfold. First of all, I prefer topics that have more staying power, which is something that
Many, many moons ago, during the breezy period right out of schooling when I lived in Southern Louisiana, I had to evacuate from a hurricane or two. (“Breezy” takes on a new meaning.)
“Calm on the surface, paddling furiously underneath.” Back in 2009, when I wrote my first article on wildlife tunnels in an outer suburb of Boston, I figured this might be the first of
Midway through The Year of our Lord 2025, conventional retail continues its unrelenting retreat from the array of preferred American leisure activities. Simply put, fewer and fewer Americans “go shopping” for fun, at
The building featured in this final elegy has probably served as the thumbnail photo more than any other structure, in my nearly sixteen years of writing for this blog. I’m talking about none
The term “stub street” rarely comes up in conversation, yet enough people have a mental image of what it entails that it would be almost patronizing to explain what it means. However, those
Almost three weeks have come and gone since the tragic crash of American Eagle Flight 5342 with a Blackhawk UH-60 near Ronald Reagan Washington International Airport (DCA), right above the Potomac River, sending
I could always begin this article with, “Normally I don’t like to write about events right as they unfold”. Needless to say, like much “Breaking News” reporting, they intuitively avoid a deep analysis
First Lutheran Church in the St. Joseph neighborhood of downtown Indianapolis is no more. It suffered catastrophic losses early in the morning of Christmas Eve due to a fire, and while the firefighting