stand sentinel

Where once homogenous crop planting flowed in gently curving lines across the undulating valley floors, now rigidly straight houses stand sentinel against predictable history.

Any "stranger" entering this innersanctum and picking a member's briefcase (from among many others) and walking out with it wouldn't have stood a chance against the eagle-eyed coppers who stand sentinel there.

This featured model Mareike Wagner, a student at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, posing nude with Antony Gormley's "Iron Men" which stand sentinel just yards from the home in Waterloo she shares with husband James and her two sons.

This is the world-famous Atlantis Resort (www.atlantis.com), a massive complex dominated by twin gothic towers painted a shade of ochre-pink which stand sentinel over pools filled with every kind of fish imaginable - from stingrays to sticklebacks.

This voyeuristic ride into a world in which AK-47-toting bodyguards stand sentinel and a briefcase full of maximum-denomination bills is considered an appropriate birthday gift ("Checks are not welcome," the narrator realizes) sends readers on a vicarious binge, even if they are just turning paperback pages on a Friday night.

Why else would a white, pony-sized toy poodle named Gigi stand sentinel at the front door?

At low elevations, charred trunks today stand sentinel on steep slopes where fire burned very hot, consuming every needle and pine cone.

In one spot for example, a series of six homes will cluster and stand sentinel.

Blue metal silos stand sentinel on some lands, while on others, sturdy fences warn trespassers to keep away from shiny new homes.

The four glass towers of the French national library stand sentinel on the Parisian skyline.

Two garages stand sentinel to the east and west of the house, both with potential staff/guest accommodation over.

The first hole, 338 yards from the yellow tees, is named Ailsa Craig after the famous rock out in the Firth of Clyde, which appears to stand sentinel over the course.

She said volcanic peaks like Mount Hood stand sentinel from Alaska to South America.

Early-morning fog casts a milky, mysterious veil over pastures and pinelands; flocks of egrets flash white across the horizon; cows and hawks, motionless in the midday heat, stand sentinel by the road; towering thunderheads mass over the Myakka River; and Charlotte Harbor shimmers rosily in the setting sun.