As I grew up, I developed what most of my friends (and I) thought was a better than normal sense of ‘north’ as a direction. As might be expected, my sense of which direction is north increased after I got my driving license and was able to expand my geographic knowledge.
Yet, when I moved away from my boyhood home for the first time, I lost that sense of ‘north’. It certainly abandoned me when I lived overseas, and, even now that I have returned to the US, I still don’t feel as in touch with my sense of direction as I was growing up.
To my surprise however, when I returned to where I grew up this weekend, my sense of direction, of knowing ‘north’ from ‘south’, almost without thinking, returned.
So, was a I wrong to think that I had some wonderful sense of direction as a boy/younger man? Was it more that I happened just to know my way around town? Is it even possible to know or feel ‘north’ without considering one’s surroundings.
I too have that keen sense of compass directions, but I think that comes from a childhood passion related to astronomy.
Knowing both direction and time (roughly) based upon the motion and position of the sun or stars was frequently helpful.
for 1.5 years in Tanzania, I thought I was heading north to go back to my home, only to realize afterwards that the road ran east to west.
Thanks, Google Maps, for revealing my geographic ineptitude.
Men have a far better internal compass than women (who are better with landmarks). But there is nothing within the human body that indicates north. The only direction we are aware of is up and therefor down. In space we loose even this sense.
@ Jim,
Cheers for sharing that little story. I have been laughing about it for the past two days. Very funny!