Dear PoPville,

Spotted on corner of 19th & T St, NW. Portable speed or stop sign camera? Camera is pinted in same direction of traffic. I’ve never seen one of these before, anyone know what it is?

“Dear PoPville,

On R NW between 18th and 19th…appears to be some kind of massive weight? It’s HUGE.”

Ah this one comes up every year. It is wild. From Falmouth Massachusetts. Readers have speculated:

“Definitely a weight of some kind used offshore.”

“a lobster trap-flag-buoy-marker.”

“It’s a lobster net anchor.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user A. Drauglis

Dear PoPville,

As I was leaving the arboretum today I noticed a white surveillance balloon rising above New York Ave east of Bladensburg road.

No idea what this is about. but it seemed kind of peculiar.

It looks like it is Air Photos Live, a “Digital Design & Imaging Service”.  In the past we’ve seen them spotted them on 14th Street in Logan Circle.

Photo by PoPville flickr user A. Drauglis

I couldn’t figure out what was going on here – drying the sheet? No. Covering plants underneath it?

From Mt. Vernon Square.

A reader sends in this photo from Dupont and wonders if anyone knows the story?

Dear PoPville,

I was just noticing the extraordinarily skinny facade at 1347 (?) S Street, NW. It’s just behind the former Garden District, now the beer place with the big biergarten [Standard]. It’s literally the width of a door. I feel like I read about this once, but maybe I’m making that up. Know anything about it?

“Dear PoPville,

Have you seen this? What’s going on here? [8th St, NW between D and E Streets.]

It’s a Pepco sub station.

“Dear PoPville,

Have been meaning to send in a pic of this for a year now. From Capitol Hill on C Street SE between 8th and 9th. Any idea what the orange reflector-things are above the garages? Apologies if you’ve covered this before.”

We once looked into this a few years ago. If memory serves I think it was once attached to an old fire alarm or security alarm system. When the alarm went off the light above the garage would go off. Anyone know if this was for a fire alarm or a security alarm? Anyone know when they become popular – the 60s? I’ve seen a bunch of these in Logan Circle as well.

‏@soneil16 asks:

“what’s going on here? Georgia & NH”

I was wondering the same thing! Anyone know the story?

Saw this in the window of Mom n Pop antiques at the corner of Otis and Georgia Ave, NW.

A quick google search didn’t bring much up about an Edith Winstead. Anyone ever hear of her?

A reader sends the video above and writes:

“I put a humanoid tape sculpture in Dupont Circle yesterday. Here’s what happened.”

The reactions are pretty funny. Apparently it was a book promotion for The Life Story of a Chilean Sea Blob and Other Matters of Importance.

“Dear PoPville,

I work at 16th and P and saw this on my way to work, outside of the DC JCC.

WHAT IS IT?!”

I think this is the frame of a sukkah:

“A sukkah is a temporary hut constructed for use during the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot.”

Dear PoPville,

I saw this group of, um, I guess bicyclists? They went down 14th, around Logan Circle, and back down Vermont, occasionally pausing to wave and go “woo hoo!” It struck me as a good living metaphor for the country, especially in election season – it often seems like we’re all furiously pedaling in different directions, but somehow we do make progress…

Anyone else spot this odd ride?

“Dear PoPville,

Birds swarming at 9th and G NW. Anyone out there have an explanation?”

Any amateur ornithologists out there?

I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s from Georgetown. Presumably this was used for some sort of storage, right? Anyone know a bit about the original purpose: