touching the earth

as a young girl, i was often transfixed by globes and maps. i spent time turning the globes in my grade-school classrooms, looking at the colors of the countries, wondering what it would be like to live far away from where i lived in "the middle" of the united states. i loved the moment in a history class when the teacher would unfurl the map from its hidden location above the blackboard. when looking through atlases and spinning globes, i wondered if countries could choose their color. i enjoyed running my fingers over bumpy topographical maps and thinking about the mountains and how high they might be. i remember realizing that all the oceans were connected and often thought that there should just be one name for all the water connecting the continents. my parents bought me a globe pillow and i spent time choosing my favorite country name and dreaming of taking trips to that country when i was old enough to explore the world on my own.

now, jon and i often remark something to one another when we see a globe in a store. "look at that." "we should get one of those." "i love globes."

i think it might be time for me to finally have a globe of my own. i also think it might be time for me to start seriously planning some adventures.