Monday, March 19, 2012

Losing My Way


More maps. The idea of maps is sort of out of left field for me because I couldn't read a map if my life depended on it.  Susan's father was a pilot during WW II and she still has some of his silk maps. The maps were what pilots flying in the Pacific carried in case they were shot down. They were made out of silk so they'd be useful even if the pilot had ditched in the ocean. Hopefully they would be able to figure out where they were. In my case I'd probably have looked at the map and headed toward Greenland.


About this time you are wondering how bad my navigation skills can be. OK, I'll tell you. When we take our long road trips Susan is the navigator. She can read an upside down real giant-size paper map in the dark and doesn't even need the Google maps with the blue I-Am-Here button on them.


She plots our trips and tells me the highways and the routes we'll need for the next hour (we switch off the driving task every hour or so).  Then she tries to take a nap or read something. You know how some people swear and curse and people say "they cursed a blue streak"? If you want Susan's curses to turn the air Navy Blue all you have to do is say "Was that our exit I just drove past?"


The real fun comes when it's her turn to drive and I have to try to figure something out on the map because there's a detour or something unplanned, even though she highlights the route on the map. First of all, it's really big and hard to unfold the map without flapping it in her face. Second of all, I can't seem to get Google maps on my phone until we are really in the wrong direction. And I keep forgetting the I-Am-Here button. It gets really interesting when she grabs the map and tries to figure it out herself. While she's driving 70 miles an hour. And turning the air Navy Blue.

6 comments:

Leslie Avon Miller said...

I am swooning, swooning, over these maps...Oh my!

Parabolic Muse said...

Okay, well, I don't want to be a common stalker or anything, and I also don't want to brag or nothing, but I have to tell you that Jill is going to be at Artfest, and when I get there I'm going to go to her and insist she give me one of her maps. So, there.

You should zip up to Artfest and we'll all make maps!

Also, your answers in The Pulse book just about did me in. MAJOR FUN!

okay, bye

Kathryn Dyche said...

This made me giggle, you sound just like me. My husband rolls his eyes when I have to have the arrow on the GPS going the direction I'm heading rather than North South East or West otherwise it confuses me and when I try to read a map I have to turn it in the direction we're travelling . . . even then it's hit or miss whether I get it.

ArtPropelled said...

Let's see ..a road trip with Don and Susan .... Yes I would certainly enjoy it! A thrill a minute I'm sure... even if we end up in Greenland, but if you are anything like me and the hubby, you wouldn't want passengers so I won't suggest it.

martha brown said...

Hehehe -- I've driven with you both, and I do remember a bit of a detour, and Susan DID tell you where to go. Hehehehehe.

layers said...

I am not sure I want to go on a road trip with the two of you.. one turning the air blue and the other totally lost.. no wait a minute...I think it would be the most fun!