Tag: Heimatkunde
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Heimatkunde test
Seen in the Zillow Gone Wild section of Reddit. It’s in Junction City, deeply familiar territory to me. Looking at the first pic, it’s just a well-kept typical tract house, nothing special. Typical Kansas cliff behind it, again nothing special. I used to climb cliffs like this, made forts, dug fossils. Wonder why it’s so…
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Aphid Day 2026
Aphid Day this year is Oct 4, fairly typical. I’ve been seeing a few aphids in previous days. Today they gave a nice clear signal that summer is over, filling the air as soon as the sun brightened. This summer was milder than usual thanks to Nature, but holocaustier than usual thanks to our fucked…
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Ponca before oil
An odd Zillow listing triggered this tribute. Coldwell Banker is trying to sell the office building end of the old Robin Hood elevator in Ponca. Zillow: Rare opportunity to own a striking two story structure within a five story industrial building offering endless redevelopment potential. Envision multi unit apartments, townhomes, boutique hotel suites, creative offices,…
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Noticing
Earlier this year I sanded and rasped the back door so I could open it easily. I had left it closed for many years, but needed to open it so I could replace the washing machine. Since then I’ve been spending more time in the back yard, paying attention to small things like deer poop…
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Happy 100th, KCRC!
Speaking of radio log books and such, KCRC in Enid is celebrating their centennial. I remember when they celebrated their 50th! For many years KCRC was the first station in log book alphabetical listings. They didn’t try for the honor, just outlasted some stations with lower letters. CRC stood for Champlin Refining Co. The other…
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Positive signs from the neighborhood (redated)
Jan 13, 2026: For 20 years a vacant apartment building was the worst thing in the neighborhood, constantly squatted and constantly visited by cops who weren’t allowed to do anything. This situation was NOT understandable. The property was owned by an LLC who could afford to fix things if they wanted to. In 2017 the…
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Unsurprising but satisfying
Given activities in recent years, the chance of criminal arson for Saturday’s fire was somewhere between 100.00000% and 100.00000%. Now the bet is verified. Via Spokesman, Aaron Forrest Farinacci has been arrested for causing the Old Trails fire that destroyed 700 structures. He lived in the Catholic Criminalities homeless apts, which is (only coincidentally) the…
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Drive-thru Day
Today is Drive-Thru Day, so I’ll reprint one of my favorite Lost Places. = = = = = START 2014 REPRINT: In the era of satellite pix and Flickr and Instagram, odd places are thoroughly documented online in precision digital form. Mysterious places that disappeared before the current era have to be pulled back to…
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Answered two questions
On this morning’s walk I took the south loop, passing the Champion Hoarder House. There are other half-baked or temporary hoarders. This one has been packed for as long as I’ve been looking, at least 20 years. He seems to have good taste in cars. For a long time a ’65 Lincoln was parked in…
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Solution is available
This story in Courthouse News grabbed my compassion. Hartman is a teensy town in the northeast corner of Colorado, not near much of anything. The population was 56 at the last census. Per Googlemap, it’s way off Highway 36, west of Syracuse, in a dry area with very few towns. It has a leftover grid…
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Second try
At this point in the season, all the lilacs and roses have done their job. They start in May and finish in mid-June. Suddenly the rose next to the front door decided to send up a few new blooms. Maybe it’s because I’ve been watering the yard consistently this year? In any case I’ll take…
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Fun with fonts
I’ve been following Daniel, one of the few remaining REAL pressmen. He’s been working with large display fonts to create art with a proof press. Now he’s designed a digital font in the same spirit. I bought it and tried it out in my 1930s Lynwood neighborhood model. The font is suitable for store signs,…
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Snake oil to snake oil
History Today has a short article on the history of snake oil. Caught my attention by starting in Oklahoma. In 1901 a former circus performer named Susan Masall set herself up as a one-stop snake shop in the snaky part of the state, making snake venom for the peddlers and also for more legit purposes.…
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0% action, 100% buzzwords
The demonic “city” has done its trillionth meaningless “task force” on the most basic functions of government, and it still hasn’t done any actual WORK. This “task force” was assembled after a previous “task force” wrote an intentionally failed “referendum” designed to guarantee that nothing would improve. Three years later, the “stakeholders” are congratulating each…
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Manors vs non-manors
Random thought spawned by calling the western part of this state Bezos Manor. Bezos unquestionably owns Seattle and thus the state in a personal way. He is lord of the manor, residing in the manor. In old German terms he is Jeff von und zu Seattlesburg. Before he claimed the manor in 2010, it was…
