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.