No real significance other than I like random numbers. And hand-painted ones are the best.

The Nature of America stamp series from the USPS comprises 12 distinct ecosystems. The scenes are illustrated by John D. Dawson. My all-time favorite is/was the Northeastern Deciduous Forest panel. No surprise there. Sadly, these are not really available any longer. I saw a few for sale on amazon and ebay, but that’s it. I was about to finally throw out these empty panes, until I realized how much I liked them, even without their stamps.

My friend Ellis received this spud as a gift from another friend on the occasion of his 7th birthday. Ellis has assembled a little natural history museum (we have made gifts to his collection in the past) for which this will be a welcome addition. I don’t think I want all potatoes to take on this form, but how fun for the occasional tuber to go rogue. Totally cool.

I know, some of these items are decidedly creepy. But if you don’t think about their use, they are quite striking. As a small bit of trivia, Elvis used one of the small glass ones (shaped sort of like a duck) before every concert.

These three beauties are nasal irrigation devices. I’ll let your imagination do the rest. And, for goodness knows why, I happen to have quite a few of these.