Oolite Bulletins

What is a map to you?

To me it was and is an open invitation to go look.
An invitation that could not be refused.
A boy on a bike and a map in hand.
An adventure started.

My world map was skirted by a railway, a river and 2 'major' roads. A library.
A universe at the time.

The bike wheels grew with growing legs and and gears. But the maps just showed more places.

I've always loved maps! As a kid, I had a large map of the World on my bedroom wall (the map was mostly pink back then). And yes, it was an invitation to 'go look', to explore - which I did. On another wall, I had a large chart of the night sky - not so easy to explore, unfortunately.

The websites I would miss the most daily if they disappeared are Wikipedia (instant basic knowledge) and Google maps.

I use Maps from twice each day to twenty times.
To see where is somewhere and deduce things from the geography.
To prepare travels, and the time they need.
To note interesting places to come back to, or to visit.

Maps are the tools I remember my world with.

When I was a kid we would go for drives in the mountains then when we got home in the evening my dad would get out the local USGS forest service map and have me point out where we had been. He also taught me how to read the information on bearing trees and how they correlated to BLM topographical section maps. Thinking back on it now I realize what an amazing gift he gave me. Yes, did a lot of exploring and still do.
The map on my wall was a section map of an area centered roughly at 47.33°N 113.46°W.

Cody wrote:

On another wall, I had a large chart of the night sky - not so easy to explore, unfortunately.

No star chart, although if I had gotten my hands on one I probably would have. I read a lot about astronomy and bought a few books with charts when I was in my 20's. I am lucky enough to live in a place with very little light and air pollution, so the night sky is awesome.
<sighs> I really must put aside some money for a decent telescope.

Long time since I've seen a real night sky! Here in Pajero County, the light pollution is atrocious!

I write / run RPGs and maps have always been a big part of that. Here's the last one I used:



for my Diana: Warrior Princess RPG, which is the present day (well, the 1990s-ish) given the Xena treatment.

I'm curious about the 'Here there be dragons' warning - not seen it with 'there' added before.

Re: ffutures map.

I always thought the 'there' in 'Here there be Dragons' was always there. Sounds more olde English that way.

Ah. The night sky. Never appreciated till seen from the laying down position, clear sky and miles from the nearest town. I remember laying there for hours counting the satellites passing over Scotland. Amazing how many there were, even in the late 80's. Far more than shooting stars. The count was over 40 in 2hrs. Tried it out here in WA Oz, early 2000's. 1hr n half, Not 1?

Maps for cyclists or walkers;
The UK got it right with the OS maps. I've tried a few through Europe. French best touring maps were what I thought pathetic, that was till I tried to get one for Turkey. WOW. Drawn by their primary schools. Colourful and fun to look at.

FWIW I have only seen 'Here be Dragons', without the 'there'. Maybe when they were more commonplace it was 'Here, there and everywhere'

When we go away to new area on holiday, we always get a large-scale OS map of the area, as we do a lot of walking. They are brilliant, and are as good for finding interesting-looking locations as for simply navigating when you know where you are going. Indispensable, and great value all things considered.

A very good album, is Revolver.