Ben's Journal

I'm typing this blog entry on our way back from Cotopaxi National Park. The scenery is just breathtaking. To my right and left are mo...

We're in Ecuador and it's awesome! Today is our 3rd day here. The first day was essentially a travel day. We learned a couple of...

The middle of the world that is! Shira and I are in Ecuador and today we made it to the Equator (or close enough). We also visited a Cloud...

Taken in Old Town Alexandria with my Galaxy s5.

My Grandfather served as a meteorologist in WWII. The family lore is that his missions included flying into Hurricanes in the South Paci...

And just like that, the Arlington Streetcar project has been canceled . We've been hearing about this project in one form or another f...

My wife, the TV star! Finally, all those migraines she's gotten have paid off. Yesterday, we had a reporter from one of the local TV s...

151 years ago today someone snapped this photo of a crowd: The question: what are they gathered for? Click here for the answer, an...

Last Tuesday, as I had codes and code breaking on my brain , I couldn't help but notice a few coded messages just waiting to be cracked...

My father, a Professor of Biology, is fond of telling his students (and children): Darwin is always in the room . The idea, as he's exp...

Here's a recipe for kid Nirvana: fill up a large space with trampolines. Add a continuously run a dodge-ball game and basketball dunkin...

Our cousin Andy is two! After downing some delicious Menchy's Fro-Yo, I busted out a few cans of Play-Doh that I had left over from H...

In the spirit of the Chap-Kit , I give you the Bic-Kit . It's yet another compact utility kit that lets my inner-Boy Scout come out to...

I've often wondered what non-Jewish charities think when checks come in for $18, $36, or $54. These amounts may appear random, but they...

Linsey Pollak gives us this terse definition of creativity : Creativity is the putting together of two previously unrelated things, cou...

The year is 1942. The allies are hard at work trying to crack the coded messages of both the Germans and Japanese. And where, do you suppos...

This hawk (maybe a broad winged ?) was kind enough to sit still for a few minutes while I collected up my DSLR, attached my telephoto lens...

Yesterday, after a fun picnic , Shira and I made our way to my niece's school, where we saw her perform the lead role in the Diary of A...

This past Sunday, as we headed up to see my Niece star in her school play, we stopped in Fairmont Park for a quick picnic. When Shira was...

Of the 20+ etrog seeds I planted this year, it looks like 3 have germinated. Check out a few close ups of two of them: These may not ...