maps come in all shapes and sizes

 

New Jersey is the fifth smallest state in the US, at 7, 354 sq mi (19,050 km²) but is the 11th most populous with over 9.6 million people.  I think this map is the busiest one I have of any state!

Then there is Utah, with a population of around 3 million, it is the 11th least densely populated state within its 84,899 sq mi (219,887 km²)

If you're feeling peckish, how about Taiwan, which does an excellent job of promoting their foods

Actually, Taiwan may be the one country I have the most maps of, including a few that are shaped

but, I really like this series that I call 'wallpaper maps'

This is my 2,000th published post in this site, and I decided to make the cards larger so you could actually see some of the details - and in the process lost some of the details.  Still learning...

elf owl

bird of the week 

around the size of a sparrow, this is the world's smallest raptor

seeing red

 I have so many of these New Year stamps from

China, but I haven't seen one in awhile

an Italian flying envelope

and a (battered stamp) poinsettia 

nap time

 CATURDAY

something to smile about

100 years

The first Winnie-the-Pooh book was published on this date 100 years ago.

Illustrations by E.H. Shepard

hummingbird

 

bird of the week

a light repast

pancakes (blini) with caviar

I did not know that avocados grew in Madeira,  (ours all come from Mexico)

nor that watermelon has been in Japan since the 8thC, and is celebrated every July 27 

and some cheese for later

pale

 this little one has the most watery blue eyes!

CATURDAY

totem poles

 

some indigenous sculptures for Thursday Postcard Hunt

kiwi

 BIRD OF THE WEEK

a taxidermy kiwi

birds

 a magpie with her young in a nest from Australia

a cartoonish (but no less attractive) mandarin duck from Japan

fluffy

 

CATURDAY

ancient city, ancient gate

Torun is a city on the Vistula River.  It is one of Poland's oldest cities, first settled in the 8th century, and has been a world heritage site since 1997.  According to the sender, it is renowned for its gingerbread which has been made there for over 1,000 years.

The Porta Nigra in Trier, Germany is even older, having been built as a Roman Gate around 170A.D.  No one knows what the Romans called it, but it has been called 'nigra', or 'black', since the middle ages, when the original grey sandstone became darkened.   It is the only one of four city gates remaining and was designated a world heritage site in 1986.

Two UNESCO World Heritage Sites for Thursday Postcard Hunt