Saturday Pesda in the Park Photo: July 4, 2009

Did you know that "Bethesda" is a meaningful word in Wales? This surprised me when I visited the Smithsonian Folklife Festival yesterday, both because I had no idea that Bethesda had any culture at all and because the Welsh language doesn't seem to use any vowels. Even better than a claim to cultural relevance -- a nickname. The Welsh have a name for Bethesda, the small town at the mouth of the River Ogwen: Pesda. That's cute! McGhee Street Photography gets down Pesda style.