12.  I think this photo from the Plattsmouth Harvest Festival is hilarious.  The scout playing alone in the street, looking up in the air.  The beach blankets spread out on the asphalt.  the overall emptiness of it all.  It received lots of fun comments on Facebook when I posted it there.

11.  I find this out-of-focus night photo of power line pylons across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis cool.

10.  This is my favourite photo of all those I took at church this year.  It was during the Spring Cleaning and a group of folk are dusting and oiling the screen behind the choir loft.  There is just a whimsical jumble of chairs and bodies at different levels and the difference between the unoiled and oiled parts, all with the light from the stained glass pouring in overhead.  I like Bernie reaching up.

9.  As Michael and I were walking outside the Vatican one day, we got behind these women who were having a pleasant chat and walk.  Michael snapped the photo, which, to me, communicates friendship and sisterhood.

8.  Along the bank of the Arno in Florence the chains were covered with these padlocks with the names of lovers inscribed on them.  We contemplated trying to figure out where to buy one to leave our padlock as well.

7.  Walking back to our hotel in Florence one day, we twice encountered this gentleman wheeling this bust along.  It sure was a strange sight.  At this moment the street he is coming to, which is one lane, is packed with cars going both ways facing each other and trying to get around each other.  It's not every day you see a ceramic bust caught in a traffic jam.

6.  Nor is it every day that you see a giant shopping cart being pulled by a vintage tractor.

5.  This photo from the big cat building at the Omaha Zoo speaks for itself.

4.  One of my favourite things to do in Florence was to go through the main plaza and stomp on the name of Savonarola, marking the site where he was executed.

3.  I like the charm of this row of peddle cars in the Borghese Gardens.

2.  I just like this picture of a bunch of crocks (with their price tags) arranged on shelves in an antique store in Nebraska City.  There is something both fun and comforting in this picture.

And now for one of the funniest pictures I've ever taken and my favourite random stuff photo of 2011: