Geography is just physics slowed down, with a couple of trees stuck in it. (Terry Pratchett)

DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. 
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First up this week: Geography … 
I should have majored in Geography. It would have made no difference to my graduate school application. At least, I don’t think it would have. I studied different subjects for my undergraduate and graduate studies (International Relations vs History). Maps of all types have fascinated me since boyhood. And, of course, I have lots of books about maps and the making thereof. We used to visit one of my parents’ college friends, living in Scotland. He was a geography teacher. I was so impressed by that. I don’t think I would have been particularly impressed had he been an International Relations teacher. These days I’m easily seduced by all types of geography-ish books. But there’s no going back, not really. 

Second up this week, Greenwich … 
I love Greenwich (pronounced "GREN-itch"). The town was the site of the royal palace where Henry VIII and Elizabeth I were born. It's full of historic buildings, including the Royal Observatory, home to both Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian. Once upon a time, mapmakers might set the prime meridian (zero longitude) in their own places, which was undoubtedly confusing. In 1884, an international agreement established the Royal Observatory in Greenwich as the prime meridian. Greenwich is spacious and attractive, and easy to reach from central London. I enjoy taking one of the regular boats down the Thames to Greenwich. Linking up from the London Underground to the Docklands Light Rail (DLR) and on into Greenwich is also fun. Do it.

Third up this week, Globe … 
After featuring a woodcut of the Sam Wanamaker-inspired Globe Theatre (London's Southbank) in last week's letter, you might think I’m thinking of the theater. I'm not. Well, I am, sort of all the time, but it's not what I mean here. I mean the round or roundish map of the world you can spin on its offset axis. I don't have a globe and I wish I did. But the mass-produced globes I see in shops and online don't appeal. They look and feel cheap. But the lovely artisan and bespoke globes I'm aware of are beyond any budget I can set. If I pay off debt and save money, maybe I can have a fine globe one day. Then I'd have to find a place to set it and enjoy it. Not so easy in a full house. Sigh. 

A book about ... globes ...  
The Globemakers: The Curious Story of an Ancient Craft, by Peter Bellerby
Such a lovely book. Inspirational, indeed. I'll be dipping into this one often during the holidays.
"A book as beautiful as the craft it describes, The Globemakers is an inspirational story of a cratsman's dogged pursuit for perfection. It's written with the intricacy of someone who can capture the fine details of our vast planet in something small enough to sit on your desk" (Rebecca Struthers, author of The Hands of Time)

And a bit more … 

"The Opportune Moment" by Sheenagh Pugh

When you go ashore in that town,
take neither a camera nor a notebook.
However many photographs you upload
of that street, the smell of almond paste
will be missing; the harbour will not sound
of wind slapping on chains. You will read
notes like "Sami church", later, and know
you saw nothing, never put it where
you could find it again, were never
really there. When you go ashore
in the small port with the rusty trawlers,
there will be fur hawkers who all look
like Genghis Khan on a market stall,
crumbling pavements, roses frozen in bud,
an altar with wool hangings, vessels
like canal ware, a Madonna
with a Russian doll face. When you go
ashore, take nothing but the knowledge
that where you are, you never will be again.


And that's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver's "Sometimes"

Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.