When I am looking for inspiration in my writing - or during those moments when I am utterly at a loss for entertainment - I visit Wikipedia and use the Random Article function. Located on the left sidebar of the main Wikipedia page, a click on the Random Article link is a journey into the millions of always-evolving Wiki articles that Wikipedians have created and edited.I began my randomized journey with a visit to a page dedicated to Baba Budangiri, which is a mountain in the Western Ghats of India. With a height of 6317 feet, Baba Budangiri is the tallest peak between the Himalaya Range and the Nilgiris. The mountain is also home to a sacred shrine to Baba Budan, a 17th century Sufi saint revered by both Muslims and Hindus.
My next random click sent me to a page about the Monastery of Jesus of Setúbal, a national landmark in the Portuguese city of Setúbal. My wife and I briefly with the idea of a tour along the southern Portuguese Atlantic coastline in our trip to Portugal last year, but we opted instead to get our fill of religious tourist destinations by visiting the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima. The monastery is also exemplary of the architectural school known as the Manueline style, a nod to Manuel I of Portugal.
Continuing my virtual tour I next encountered a page describing the Fletcher Covered Bridge, a structure built in 1891 that is now on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The Fletcher Covered Bridge is noted for being "one of only two covered bridges still standing in Harrison County," with the other structure being the Simpson Creek Covered Bridge. Attractive bridges, both, though I personally would not drive even a bicycle across them due to their rather rickety-looking status; that is, unless I want to start long-term thinking about a disability appeal.
I ended my unpremeditated sojourn with a stop at an unusual page devoted to aircraft graffiti. I think the article could be further expanded, but I was intrigued to find out that there labor disputes often result in pro-union and anti-management graffiti adorning airplanes. I had previously only been familiar with military aircraft graffiti, like when pilots list enemy kills or when fighter crews decorate explosives with messages for enemy recipients of airborne presents.
