The new world sometimes seems like a shrunken world, thanks to shelter in place. But Christine Schoefer prefers to think globally.
Brazil, India, South Africa – the COVID number count has me thinking globally. I want to picture how the virus is spinning its world wide web.
I’m a context person. In the age of digital time keeping, I still wear a watch. That’s because when I glance down to pinpoint an exact moment, I like seeing the other hours and minutes on the watch face. Past, present and future all at once, the sense of possibility.
In this era of mapquesting, my car’s glove compartment is stuffed with paper maps. I love to unfold a map to look at deserts and forests, mountains and cities. Tracing a route with my finger feels like a little dress-rehearsal for the real journey which will take so much longer.
As much as I appreciate a virtual guide helping me navigate a travel itinerary, I still want to know how a route relates to the larger terrain. Driving, I like to keep in mind the roads not taken, the grid of towns that remains hidden, the rivers I can’t see from the freeway. Steering toward a destination, I’m aware that there are many places I’m not going.