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08/22/2026

April 18, 1906. The date of the San Francisco earthquake. For decades, residents of San Francisco described it simply as “The Fire."

Here's Weekly Gem #228, The little hydrant that could

This hidden gem is located at the intersection of 20th and Church Streets, in San Francisco, CA. It's an antique fire hydrant overlooking the Mission Dolores Park and the city beyond. A few weeks ago we told you about Mission Dolores, the oldest building in San Francisco. The Mission is still standing thanks to this fire hydrant.

At the time of the earthquake, San Francisco had a modern, extensive, and well-equipped fire department. The city had over 20 billion gallons of water stored in hilltop reservoirs that could push high pressure water to fire hydrants all over town. They were fully aware of the risk of fire, and had prepared, they thought, for even the worst scenario.

The earthquake began just about 5:12 am, and ended before 5:14. Between 1500 and 5500 buildings were damaged in this minute and a half, the exact count unclear because of what happened next.

Earthquake damage resulted in about 50 fires igniting. Firefighters arrived quickly, hooked up to the fire hydrants, and got ... nothing. The pipes connecting reservoirs to the hydrants had suffered over 23,000 breaks during the earthquake. Over and over, the firefighters hooked up their pumpers and got nothing.

Fires merged into a few massive conflagrations that destroyed another 25,000 buildings and 492 city blocks over the next three days. The photo of the park shows the hydrant's 'view.' Almost every building between the park and the water's edge, 4 miles distant, burned down.

Fires pushing southward were threatening the beloved Mission Dolores, the building from which San Francisco took its name. The Mission is just about two blocks on the other side of the park.

Eventually they tried this hydrant and got … water!!!? Firefighters sent their pumpers up the long Dolores Street hill. Their horses were exhausted, so the pumpers were manhandled by volunteers up the hill to this hydrant where they filled the tanks, and pulled them back down again. Back and forth they went, a constant stream of pumpers, and this hydrant never flagged.

Thanks to the water from the 'golden hydrant,' the fire was stopped, literally, at the walls of Mission Dolores. The building next door was burned to the ground. The Mission was unscathed!

07/31/2026

Set your watch here (but only once a year).

Weekly Gem #205, Where shadows are cast by a dark star

This hidden gems is located at the intersection of Fairfax Dr and Fort Myer Dr in Arlington, VA. Here you will find a sundial unlike any other. The two spheres represent fallen stars, resting peacefully in the tiny park. The poles behind them mark the edges of these stars, the inside edges of the poles perfectly aligned with the outside edges of their stars. A perfect outline of the fallen stars and their poles is on the ground, as you can see in the photo.

Shadows are cast by the stars and their poles, going round and round every day. Then each year on August 1, at exactly 9:32 am, those shadows completely and perfectly fill the outlines on the ground.

The artist (Nancy Holt) managed to create an amazing ‘solar eclipse’ effect. If you’ve seen a total solar eclipse, you must have noticed that there’s an instant where the eclipse goes from 99.9% of total (well, that’s neat) to 100% (WOW!). And you wonder, how can such a small difference make such a big difference?

On August 1, at 9:32, something similar happens here in Dark Star Park. The shadows come closer and closer, and then suddenly, everything lines up. One second it’s kind of fuzzy, the next second it’s perfect. The outlines are in shadow, everything else is in light. The transition from imperfect to perfect is quite amazing. And it’s so much more impressive when you see it in person. So, if you can … go!

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” ~ Dr. Seuss

07/18/2026

Weekly Gem #226, Stuck in a rut, and only one way out!

These hidden gems are located near Scottsbluff, NE, and Geurnsey, WY. For most of its length, the "Oregon Trail" was actually a series of parallel trails, wagons spreading out somewhat to avoid eating the dust of those in front. Here are a couple of places where everyone was forced into the same path.

First they came to Scotts Bluff. The first image shows the view as you're heading up to Mitchell Pass, and from here it looks quite manageable. Just over the top though, there are deep gullies that forced everyone into one set of ruts. The second image shows the single path followed by thousands of wagons, year after year.

So, you’ve managed to get your wagons, animals, and people up the east side and down the west side in one piece. You think there might be some easy riding for a while? Sorry, pardner. It’s uphill from here to South Pass, 350 miles up the trail in Wyoming!

Three or four days later they came upon exposed sandstone and limestone, this near Guernsey, WY. Most of this stretch was impassable, but there was a fairly smooth option to go up and across the rock.

That smooth route was the only realistic route, and led to creation of the most durable set of ruts along the entire trail. The image is looking downhill. Although it looks level, the far end is about 10 feet below the near end. The rut itself is about 4 feet deep. In 1830, there was no rut ... 40 years later, thousands of wagon wheels and livestock had worn it down as you see below.

After that, most everyone took the train.

06/28/2026

Weekly Gem #227, Mission of Sorrows

This hidden gem is located at the intersection of Dolores Street and Chula Lane, in San Francisco, California. The oldest building in San Francisco, its good fortune starts with the fact that it was even built.

That story starts in 1768. California was part of Mexico, at that time a Spanish colony. Spain was feeling pressure to settle California, in part to make sure the territory wasn't claimed by Russia (the fear being that the Russians would move down the coast from Alaska, before Spain could move up from Mexico). Spain's plan was to establish Franciscan missions along the California coast as a way to lay claim to this largely unexplored territory.

The name and location of each proposed Franciscan mission had been determined in 1768 by the Administrator of Mexico, José de Gálvez.

Can you believe the plan didn't include a Franciscan Mission for St. Francis?

Friar Junípero Serra was taken aback! "Is there then to be no mission for Our Father San Francisco?"

Administrator Gálvez replied … "If San Francisco wants a mission, let him cause his port to be discovered, and it will be placed there!"

Just one year later, a Spanish ship noted what appeared to be a dent in the coast, which, upon closer examination, opened up into a huge bay. True to his word, Gálvez added a new Mission to his list, Mission San Francisco de Asís.

But then how did the Mission San Francisco become known as the Mission of Sorrows?

There was a nice creek emptying into the Bay that seemed to be a fine place to build the Mission. The Spanish commander explored this creek on April 5, 1776, the Friday before Palm Sunday that year. This day was traditionally called Feast of our Lady of Sorrows, or to the locals, "Nuestra Señora de los Dolores."

The Mission was built right there, and became known to the locals as Mission Dolores (i.e. Mission of Sorrows).

Mission Dolores survived the 1906 earthquake. The resulting fires burned the Basilica next door to the ground, but the Mission was unscathed.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” ~ Dr. Seuss

06/13/2026

Weekly Gem #202, A lovely drive on pins and needles

This weekly gem is located at the intersection of Highway 20 and the Niobrara River, near Valentine, Nebraska.

The Bryan Bridge no longer carries traffic, but in 1932 was designated "the Most Beautiful Steel Bridge."

Aesthetically pleasing though it may be, few people who drove across realized that it was actually two cleverly designed half bridges. The bridge used a cantilever design with two long arms balanced over each pillar, one arm anchored on shore, the other reaching out to meet the opposite side. You can see where the arms meet at the top of the center arch.

This design is so strong and stable, and so perfectly aligned, that the middle wasn't bolted together. Only one pin is used where the arms meet in the middle to minimize the vibration that might be caused by traffic.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” ~ Dr. Seuss

06/02/2026

With Wandering Puffin LLC – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

05/31/2026

Our anti-pickpocket bags are now available at the University of Minnesota Alumni Market, and there is free shipping on orders of $50+ through May 31. If you or yours are traveling this summer, check out our bags and other travel items at the Minnesota Alumni Market travel page.

https://www.mnalumnimarket.com/collections/travel

And we encourage you to browse. There are many great products on the Market, all made by small businesses that are owned by University of Minnesota alumni.

https://www.mnalumnimarket.com/

05/30/2026

Revisiting Memorial Day for a Couple Minutes.

Weekly Gem #214, "Pop" Powers

This weekly gem is located a few miles from our home office, in the Holy Cross Cemetery, Butte, MT.

Leo J. Powers was raising sheep in Alder Gulch, Montana, when Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941. He was 32 at the time, looking closer to 40 thanks to his false teeth and a decidedly gimpy walk due to bad feet. He volunteered. The Army classified him as unfit for combat. "You're a mechanic!" The boys in his unit called him "Pop."

Fast forward a little over two years, Italy. There were a lot of casualties, enough so that an "unfit for combat" mechanic was given a r***e and sent to the front lines. His unit was fighting uphill, making progress until three concrete "pillpoxes" with machine guns started firing, at which point they were pinned down. They couldn't move forward or backwards, or even pull the wounded to cover. Mortars were dropping among them, so staying put wasn't an option either.

Pop traded his r***e for some hand gr***des and quickly crawled toward the first pillbox. The opening was narrow and deep so someone couldn't sneak up and throw a gr***de in from the side. So Pop crawled to within about 15 yards of the opening, right in front of the machine gun, and pulled the pin. He then popped up in full view of the Germans, threw his gr***de as he was standing, and dropped before they could get a bead on him. One down. He crawled along the entire front of his company, using the minimal cover available to pop up, throw, and drop, two more times. At that point he was out of ammo, but the remaining Germans in the final pillbox surrendered to him anyway.

According to his Medal of Honor citation, Pop Powers “against tremendous odds had single-handedly broken the backbone of this heavily defended and strategic enemy position."

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” ~ Dr. Seuss

05/16/2026

If the archeologists have questions about this particular structure, maybe just ask the neighbors.

Weekly Gem #220, A puzzling oratory near "The Little Dairy Place"

This weekly gem is located about three miles east of Ballyferriter, aka Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, aka An B[h]uailtín, in County Kerry, Ireland.

The structure is the Gallarus Oratory. Built of stacked stones without mortar, not only is it still standing, it is perhaps more stable than ever. Yes, there are lots of large stones that look hefty and structural, but look at all those tiny stones, some the size of marbles, filling every nook and cranny. Over the centuries, as the structure gradually settled, the stones have snuggled ever more tightly together.

Also puzzling is when it was built, and its purpose.

As far as date of construction, the closest we can get through archeology is that it has been standing for between 800 and 1600 years. This type of stone construction was used for so long, with essentially no changes over centuries, that we can't get more precise than that.

And why it was built? It's often referred to as a ‘church,’ although there’s no evidence that it was built as a church, or ever used as a church.

Maybe we should ask the neighbors, as they have very long memories.

Case in point, that town off to the west. On the map, you see a village called Ballyferriter, named for a family that settled here in the 1300’s. Ballyferriter is the Anglicized version of the Irish Baile an Fheirtéaraigh (which is still used quite often).

But the locals use the original village name, from before the Feiritéar family arrived from Normandy. Way back then, and still today, it was simply “the little dairy place” (An B[h]uailtín).

Long memories indeed.

04/25/2026

Weekly Gem #207, Timing is Everything

This hidden gem is located at the intersection of Westminster Bridge and the River Thames in London, England.

When Big Ben was built in the mid 1800s, it was far and away the most massive gear-driven clock in the world. The clock maker himself (a brazen chap named Dent) didn’t know how to make this clock work at the time he submitted a proposal to do so. Fortunately for him, construction delays are nothing new. Building the clock tower took almost 5 years longer than planned, and by the time the clock was installed, a method was invented for his clock to keep time.

The solution was a Denison Double Three-Legged Gravity Escapement.

Thankfully, Denison became Lord Grimthorpe, his invention was renamed the Grimthorpe Escapement, and we need not mull over the "double three legged" part.

Needless to say, this isn’t your grandfather’s clock. But, consider a grandfather clock. It has a pendulum, which turns some gears at a precise pace. Those gears allow a weight to drop at an equally precise rate, and that weight is what turns the hands of the clock. Easy peasy. Of course, your grandfather clock is inside your house, and also inside a closed case. The pendulum and the clock face are enclosed because even a slight wind, or something miniscule resting on the hands, will reduce the accuracy of the clock, or even cause it to stop.

Big Ben has four clocks, each exposed (but differently) to wind, snow, ice, rain, and the occasional perching bird. For example, a west wind presses in on the hands on the west face, blows across the north and south faces turning the hands into ‘wings,’ and the east face is unperturbed (although that is probably where the bird will perch).

How to keep each clock on time, and showing exactly the same time?

The Grimthorpe Escapement was a stroke of genius. Details aside, this device kept the pendulum swinging exactly right, regardless of what outside influences were doing to speed up or slow down the hands.

Good enough, but that's not good enough. In the clock tower are three massive gear mechanisms, each made of dozens of cast metal parts which expand and contract with changes in weather. So, double three legs aside, the clocks were still prone to changing speed with the changing weather.

Dent determined that adding one penny to the pendulum raised the center of gravity ever so slightly, but enough to speed the clock by two fifths of a second per day. One penny equals two fifths.

Nowadays, Big Ben is tracked and monitored electronically, sensors scattered about. When the sensor shows the clock is running a bit off, the clockmaster goes down to the pendulum and places, or removes, one penny.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” ~ Dr. Seuss