Saturday, November 22, 2008

Sense of Direction

I have no sense of direction. It’s a gift. My friends joke about my ability to get lost on a regular basis, in fact I often get lost in my own damn city... never mind road trips. I need driving directions, specific ones, too, to pretty much any neighborhood I’m not intimately familiar with... worse than that, I don’t care very much if I do get lost... I’ve always managed to make my way to the assigned destination... eventually... so I kind of take the detour of getting lost as a mini-adventure... Yes, my friends laugh at me – when they’re not completely indignant that I’m so late, or worse, made them late.

Chicago is laid out in a pretty straight forward grid, which is another reason I don’t worry so much... if I miss a turn, it’s really easy to find your way when you know which streets run north and south or east and west... and I generally know the neighborhoods I frequent well enough to drive on autopilot... but, being that I’m home with the kids or at kid friendly places, I’ve lost a bit of touch with what there is to do for just adults. Getting together with my girlfriends, unless they have a specific place picked out, I find myself going online to search restaurants or check out reviews for plays or nightclubs.

It makes you feel a little out of touch, having to look this stuff up rather than having haunts you’re familiar with... Pre-parenthood, I could’ve written my own guide to the city – but I would have skipped all the fancy dancy restaraunts with humongous plates and tiny portions... it’s Chicago, the best places heap on the food and don’t skip the calories. My guidebook today would include gymnasiums, arcades, and batting cages, as well as parks and pools... I wonder what it’ll look like when I hit the Grandparent stage... knowing me, I’ll still need directions.

6 comments:

Stephen Parrish said...

I get lost between the front door and the driveway. I'm also a Cubs fan. Maybe there's a connection.

Travis Erwin said...

I'm not bragging but I have a great sense of direction, must be the injun blood in my veins.

Merry Monteleone said...

Stephen, you're alive!!! I've missed you around the bloggy-sphere - busy with nano, I'm guessing.

I'm also a Cubs fan. Maybe there's a connection.

Maybe there is - relishing the journey rather than the destination is a trait we all have... another thing that makes us special... though some years I think 'special' only means we should be riding on the short bus.

Hi Travis,

Brag away - I wish I was that good with directions, but then, I'd have missed some fun side journeys if I was... I'd drive you crazy on a road trip, I'm sure.

Jess said...

LOL! Stephen is hilarious.

After growing up surrounded by mountains that were WEST, I was a bit out of sorts when they were suddenly in the EAST. I did GREAT once I finally figured out that the mountains are on the "wrong" side (only a few years of that).

Now that I live back on the west coast, there are NO mountains within viewing distance. None. My sense of direction is shot.

I have a compass on my rear view mirror, and GPS on my phone, and if that fails, I'm happy to be lost now that gas isn't $5 a gallon. For now, anyway. :)

Chris Eldin said...

LOL at Stephen's comment! Me too! I have NO sense of direction. Wonder what would happen if we all got lost in the woods together? Would we all argue about which way to go, or would we blissfully just wander around for hours, bumping into each other occasionally...
:-)

Merry Monteleone said...

Hi SUV,

Did you take comments off your blog? I was there yesterday, but couldn't find where to comment... but maybe I'm just demented.

I hope you're doing well in the new place, though... don't worry so much about the nasty ex-friend, some people need an enemy... it probably had very little to do with you.

Hi Chris,

Oh, I'm a pretty laid back lost person... we'd probably just wander around for hours cracking each other up... until we got really hungry anyway...