i'm studying in the map section of the HBLL - 2nd floor. one of my favorite reasons for studying here is because there is a sign that says "may not be conducive to studying" by all the study tables and the fact that the drinking fountain on the east side sprays really high when you first push the button down.
i was looking around tonight and noticed that there are lists of what maps are in each of the wide drawers lining each aisle. i began to be curious of what a map of the middle of Africa would look like up close. what is there? where do the rivers run and the mountains jut upwards? are there forests, big cities, major highways? i tried to picture the people and the romantic image of a storybook Africa ignited into my homework-weary mind.
but this curiosity and fascination is a century too late. i mean, how many kids do you know that ask for a cartography set or an atlas for Christmas? the world of maps has been replaced by the Discovery Channel and National Geographic online. i felt like i was venturing over some dusty and forgotten boundary into a world when frontiers were not all realized, quantized, imperialized and i felt the cool, refreshing taste of wonder that must have persisted in the mind of Vespucci.
but by now, people have walked on the moon and sent spacecraft to mars. i can flip on my computer and google-earth the Sahara. frontiers are at our fingertips and i sat here and wondered if that sense of awe is not lost on convenience of the modern age.
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