There must be a story behind this redundant street name.

The main road of a small housing development called Lumpkins Forest (no apostrophe), its sign reads, “FORESTRD DR.” Maps label it, “Forestroad Drive.”

I didn’t really pay attention to the name until we moved into our current house and now drive past the street to and from the city almost every day. When I noticed it, I thought it must be a typo. Or something. It aggravated me.

A little while later, my mom, who worked as a rural mail carrier until her retirement just over a year ago, told me that her coworkers at the post office used to joke about the street name.

Signs plus maps plus mail equals not a typo. Weird.

The neighborhood isn’t run-down and boarded-up like the house on the other side of the highway that’s shown here. It’s full of really nice houses that are well taken care of, from what I can see.

I wonder if I could live on a redundant street. I wonder if I would roll my eyes or sigh every time I had to type or write my address if I did. I wonder if I could resist the urge to complain and organize a protest.

I know for sure I’d at least get to the bottom of the backstory.

These little guys call our van their home. We found Basil, the frog, at Walmart several years ago. Kevin’s always loved the name, and it reminds of The Great Mouse Detective. (I don’t know why that fits here, but it does somehow.) We adopted Cecilia, the seal, at the Virginia Beach Aquarium last summer. She’s named for the Simon and Garfunkel song. 🙂

I took three shots of Basil and Cecilia this afternoon from an almost identical angle with Urbian’s Retro Camera app for Droid. You can see the difference in color, film, and case, not to mention kilter. From left: the Xolaroid 2000, made in San Francisco; the .1976 USSR’s Little Orange Box (also shown at top); and the ’50s-era German Bärbl.