I have always loved maps, as far back as elementary school. The internet and satellites have changed maps; sometimes I still prefer old-fashioned paper ones. This post shows five “grabs” from on-line maps. What they have in common is that in each an inch is equivalent to about two miles and that all show places in the Americas. This is my last regular post for about two weeks because it is time to hit the airport, then the road. This road will take me through three of the five grabs here. I’ll identify the places along the way.
1.
At this link there are 24 quotes about maps . .. like this one by Abulrazak Gurnah: “I speak to maps. And sometimes they something back to me. This is not as strange as it sounds, nor is it an unheard of thing. Before maps, the world was limitless. It was maps that gave it shape and made it seem like territory, like something that could be possessed, not just laid waste and plundered. Maps made places on the edges of the imagination seem graspable and placable.”
2.
Herman Melville said that true places are not found on maps. Here’s an interesting article that quotes him and talk about a place (not in the Americas) I’ll likely never visit, never have to navigate myself around with or without a map or chart.
3.
On travel . . . aka gallivanting, Robert Louis Stevenson said, “There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.”
4.
I airbrushed some names out of this map grab . . . lest you figure the location out too easily. And if you don’t figure it out, no matter . . . see this LandSat fotos or play with google for a while if you think these satellite images are beautiful, as I do. I didn’t change any of the colors, but some satellites use filters to capture invisible but significant detail.
5.
But as much as I enjoy looking at maps and charts, there is a time to get out, feel the wind on your face, and let yourself be surprised. Doubleclick this one; these two watchstanders on MSC Federica last weekend seem the ultimate gallivanters. They could even be time travelers.
I’ll try to write from the road, something I last did just a month ago here. Any guesses about the geography captured by those fotos?
Related: Here and here are some airplane seat art sites. Here are more examples of “land art” visible from google earth.
. . . astrotisements for everything imaginable.
8 comments
Comments feed for this article
July 26, 2012 at 6:05 pm
sleepboot
Will,
Can’t figure out which way you are heading, but nevertheless ENJOY your trip
Regards,
Jan.
July 27, 2012 at 1:59 am
David Hindin
Shooting Ducks:
#3.
http://goo.gl/maps/RPYm
#4
http://goo.gl/maps/qusv7
Enjoy the trip.
July 27, 2012 at 8:42 am
starbuck5250
Happy trails!
July 27, 2012 at 8:47 am
mageb
Love your grabs. I love any maps. So have a great trip, and I hope you have the time to update while you travel.
July 27, 2012 at 1:37 pm
tugster
thanks all . . . david . . you ARE good.
July 27, 2012 at 4:00 pm
John Sperr
1. Looks like the Amazon Rain Forest — haven’t pinned it down exactly.
3. Great Salt Lake
4. Bonneville Salt Flats
5. Grand Tetons
2. Has me stumped. Looks like glaciers flowing into the sea in the N. Hemisphere. With all that red rock, it should be easy to find, but I’m still looking. Maybe the Northwest Passage?
Have a great trip.
July 28, 2012 at 3:00 pm
james schubert
Have you signed articles?
July 30, 2012 at 6:47 am
bowsprite
astrotisements, hmmm. I might go spell TUGSTER with oyster shells on the KVK for you. Staten Island side, your office.
damm! David and John are good!