Shoals

An occasional blog about mapping, history, art, and technology

A Colorblind Cartographer

Posted on October 18, 2026

It was the first big snow of the season in Vermont. In my city the leaves turned late and the snowfall landed early, giving us the rare gift of “snowliage”. As I walked to work that morning I came upon two people separately stopped on the sidewalk to take photos... [Read More]
Do You Know the Land Where the Lemon Trees Bloom?

Posted on September 27, 2026

I watched from the uppermost row of the balcony, seated on a folding chair, as the baritone whose name I no longer remember sang onstage. This was the aria “Kennst du Das Land” from Mark Adamo’s operatic setting of Little Women, written only two years before, with this snippet of... [Read More]
Atlas Miscellaneous - August 2026

Atoms and isolation

Posted on August 1, 2026

Albuquerque, New Mexico [Read More]
Atlas Miscellaneous - July 2026

Scenes from the coast of the Aral Sea

Posted on July 1, 2026

[Read More]
Atlas Miscellaneous - June 2026

Thefts and repossessions

Posted on June 1, 2026

Barenstburg, Svalbard [Read More]
Atlas Miscellaneous - May 2026

Muffins and Tacos

Posted on May 1, 2026

Salvador Bahia, Brazil [Read More]
Ice Out

In both senses

Posted on April 1, 2026

Yes, obviously, ICE out as well. Because f&%$ those cowardly, anti-American f&%$s. [Read More]
Atlas Miscellaneous - March 2026

Unknown unknowns

Posted on March 1, 2026

There is a lot that I’m able to learn from my desk in a now-frosty corner of Northern New England, and that remoteness is part of my delight in scanning the world like this. But sometimes I stumble on locations and features that don’t tie easily to ground-level history, news,... [Read More]