In a bit of escapism this week, I’m steering the column away from the heavier topics of recent weeks – dead birds, ocean bottom mining, broken elbows – by doing some virtual traveling.

THE CALL OF THE FISH DOORBELL: A freaky fish story came knocking out of the Netherlands. It focused on a growingly famous “fish doorbell,” or visdeurbel, located in the city of Utrecht, specifically the Weerdsluis lock on the Oudegracht canal. Whoa, that was a Dutch mouthful.