Round Museum

Sleek, small, strange, rounded, the 1964 Volkswagen Beetle is an iconic car. Out there in the back yard by the barn you might have a vintage little gem hidden behind the rust and broken headlights. If you restored that thing, could you get a little return on the investment? A couple thousand? Five figures? A cool $1 million? Well, only if it has 22 miles on the odometer and had been in storage for the last 56 years.

02.06.21

There are eight million stories in the naked city, and in the five boroughs of New York there just may be that many manholes. This is one of them.

02.05.21

Hey, Sugar, what's in your cookie? Is there a cup of butter? Is it softened? Unsalted? One large egg and one large egg yolk? Must be room temperature, now. Two teaspoons pure vanilla extract? Not tablespoons, teaspoons, yes? Did you spoon and level the all-purpose flour? Are you sure? A little baking powder and salt, and... hmm... seems like we're forgetting something. Ah! The sugar!

02.04.21

The sound of a call bell is crystal clear and freighted with meaning. What's the message?
Ding! Someone needs service at the front desk.
Ding! Your answer is correct!
Ding! The blue-plate special is ready.
Ding! An angel has gotten their wings.
Ding! Granddad owes another dollar to the swear jar.

02.03.21

After a good fresh snowfall it won't be too long before some snowmen will appear on the lawn. But, watch out for the dirty old snowball makers. This muddy monstrosity got rolled halfway towards becoming a snowman before things warmed up above freezing and you had a mud pie on your hands.

02.02.21

Winter storms, ice, snow and cold require a menu of warming antidotes. Bundle up and wrap yourself in wool and fleece. Sip a hot drink. Light a roaring fire. Gather 'round and warm your bones in this warm, glowing, warming glow.

02.01.21

Winter Storm Orlena is approaching. After battering the Midwest, the Northern Plains and southern Great Lakes it has evolved into a nor'easter and headed for Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., New York and Boston. It will be coming down hard, and last for a couple days. Hopefully it will not be this big, this heavy, or this made out of metal.

01.31.21

This blue berry may look delicious, but it's not the healthy, anthocyanin-laden fruit you'd want to top your waffles or fold into your muffins. It belongs to a juniper evergreen called the Eastern Red cedar tree. So leave them on the branches and let the Cedar Waxwing songbirds eat them. They'd like some pancakes and syrup, too.

01.30.21

Knock knock. Looks like this door needs a new coat of paint. Like an ornate door knocker, the decorative Round and rivets covering the steel door at the base footing of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge have gotten a bit rusty. First opened in 1926, the 1,750-foot bridge was dedicated as part of the United States' Sesquicentennial Exposition, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Originally gray, the bridge was painted blue in 1976 for the nation's Bicentennial, and re-painted again in 1989 and 2005.

01.28.21

The hand wheel is tightened up and the rubber-lined butterfly valve is closed. If you need to regulate some flow, an incremental turn will open a disc mechanism inside the valve body. Do a full 90° rotation, and there she blows.

01.27.21