globes & maps

a globe waiting for a home in a portland thriftshop.

there's something funny about globes. they give you the world in this manageable form, in this form that you can twist around and run your fingers over and feel that maybe, still, there is enough time for you to get out there and see all the places where your fingers land.

but when you do get out there, you realize all those beautiful globes -- all those bright-blue, muted-brown, black-and-white, stone-inset, whatever globes -- didn't do the enormity of the world justice in the slightest. those globes don't really convey the easy little fact that you could spend a lifetime wandering what they show you as just one square inch and still feel like you didn't explore it fully.

i've always been a little taken by maps. but lately, whenever i come across one, i can't help but find africa and look for some winding path back. maybe, i've lost it. maybe, i've been reading too much david sedaris.

a song to meditate on if you're feeling restless or nostalgic or a little bit of both: Map of the World by Monsters of Folk.