Spiral field, Iowa

This beautiful spiral, on the other hand, makes perfect sense to me as ones equipment moves in and out towards a center.

Concentric fields, Iowa

I'm really not sure what farming motivation there can be for uneven concentric loops like this, especially given that they aren't even following the contour lines.

Mowers in formation, Chicago O'Hare

Lawnmowers in formation at O'Hare airport.

Madrid airport terminal

Nearly time to say goodbye to the Madrid airport, and its stylish layers of ramping walkways.

Ventilation, Madrid airport terminal

Another unusual bit of architecture in Madrid's airport, in the form of these "googly eyed" ventilators.

Madrid airport terminal

The composition opportunities in the Madrid airport are just lovely to me.

Madrid airport terminal

A wave shaping around a light in Madrid's terminal ceiling.

Madrid airport terminal

The wonderfully wavy ceiling of Madrid's airport terminal buildings.

Art car, Madrid

One more art car view, showing the panels on its left.

Art car, Madrid

The back of this wonderful art car, showing its dual heritage of Pakistan and Spain.

Art car, Madrid

Wonderfully psychedelic art-car on the streets of Madrid.

Half-and-half house, Madrid

Significantly different stylings on the two halves of this duplex.

Madrid through the window

Rolling swells of white and brick city, framed through my window in Madrid.

Viaduct walls, Madrid

Non-functional arches decorate the walls of this Madrid viaduct.

Torres Blancas building, Madrid

From the side, layers of cylinders in their irregular pattern.

Torres Blancas building, Madrid

Another view of the Torres Blancas building, looking more upward into the various levels of rounded windows.

Torres Blancas building, Madrid

This wonderful building Madrid is a one of my favorite brutalist works, popping out above the skyline in an unexpected flurry of flattened cylinders.

Hotel Puerta de América, Madrid

The Hotle Puerta de America is stylish, but definitely not subtle.

Vodaphone building, Madrid

Artistically asymmetric sloping patterns on the windows of the Vodaphone office building in Madrid.

Annular building near Madrid airport

This nifty unlabelled building near the Madrid airport appears to be part of a newly developing office park.

Wheat sheaves, UIHC

A soothing pattern of wheat sheaves on the wall in the University of Iowa hospital complex.

Team Stupid II, Iowa City

When RAGBRAI, the big annual Iowa bicycle ride, comes through town, some of the teams have pretty sweet support busses.

Corn tub, North Liberty, Iowa

Another distinctly Iowan pleasure: instead of a sandbox, a corn tub for the kids to play in. Corn castles don't have quite as much integrity as sand, however.

Navigating a corn maze, North Liberty, Iowa

I never encountered a corn maze before I moved to Iowa, but I have since come to love them.

Pumpkin checkers, North Liberty, Iowa

It's gourd versus gourd on this pumpkin checkerboard!

Pumpkins aplenty, North Liberty, Iowa

Piles of pumpkins at a farm in North Liberty.

Dan-Dan the Farmer Man, Iowa State Fair

I didn't see his show, but he's sure got wonderfully bizarre advertising, as he rolls around the fair.

Acrobats, Iowa State Fair

Acrobats in a balancing comedy act at the Iowa State Fair.

Animal Band, Iowa State Fair

Hay sculpture of an animal band at the Iowa State Fair.

Cedar River, Iowa

A fork of fields and forest in the Cedar River, just downstream of Cedar Rapids, where the banks have already returned to countryside.

Princess wigs, Boston, MA

This ridiculous kiosk sold nothing but princess hair knick-knacks, here shown off in well-styled Disney-esque wigs.

Orbital beads, Boston, MA

Beads in various shades of blue and turquoise, orbiting the edges of a window display in the Copley mall.

Rainy pre-marathon, Boston, MA

Runners jogging through the rain in a pre-marathon competition through Back Bay Boston.

Blue artist, Boston, MA

A great blue hand guides the spray paint of this self-reflective mural.

Apartment building, Boston, MA

An old brick apartment building, making a nice combination of angles and curves in its bulging sides.

Urban turkeys, Boston, MA

Urban turkeys, hanging out by the Brookline trolley tracks to wake me in my hotel in the morning.

One of these knives is not like the others, Belfast, ME

Knives in my family's kitchen, one far older than the others.

Wands, Philadelphia airport

So, I know this must just be for those sticks the ground controllers wave, but the fact that it's a mailbox helped me feel like I'd somehow fallen into Harry Potter.

Cabinet of curiousities, Philadelphia airport

Another portion of the mysterious cabinet of curiosities in the Philadelphia airport.

Cabinet of curiousities, Philadelphia airport

A Philadelphia airport display cabinet full of all manner of curious objects.  I have no idea what the uniting theme or organization might be for these.

Curving ceiling, Philadelphia airport

Down-curving ceiling looming ominously above a terminal walkway in Philadelphia.

Unending suburbia, Chicagoland

Long, nearly unvarying lines of suburban housing on the Western side of Chicago.

Morning Y, Chicago

Y-shaped apartment building, shining golden in the morning light.

Chicago marina

A curved and angled marine on the Northern shore of Chicago, hosting at least five different sizes and shapes of docking structures.

Chicago morning

Bright reflections on the lake in the Chicago dawn.

Morning at the Eastern Iowa Airport

Dawn breaking above the terminal lights of the Eastern Iowa Airport.

Daycare butterfly, Iowa City

Butterfly, resting peacefully on signage at my younger daughter's daycare.

Pig truck, Iowa

Pig trucks are a frequent feature of highways in Iowa: they have a very distinctive structure of many-segmented metal sides with frequent oval gaps, and when one peers through you often see their many restless inhabitants.

Whipped Cream Lincoln, Iowa City

A very different Lincoln looks out somewhat dubiously in pink in the midst of the delirium of the "Whipped Cream" ballet.

Mr. Lincoln's Hometown, Springfield, IL

Staid, dignified, industrial: Mr Lincoln boost Springfield from the side of its gigantic municipal coal plant.