There's a Map on my Lap!

There's a Map on My Lap!: All About Maps, by Tish Rabe, from the Cat in the Hat's Learning Library

"I'm the Cat in the Hat and I'm happy to say there's a map on my lap-let's get on our way!..."

As a kid, one of my favorite books was Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham. If this book had been around then, it probably would have become my favorite book. As long as I can remember, I have loved maps. When we would travel, I would usually have a map in my lap, as I followed along on our route.

I remember one summer, probably when I was about 12-years-old, we were on our way home from visiting family in South Carolina. I talked my Dad into taking a "short cut". On the map it looked shorter anyway... Dad often induged me in my map fetish, and we weren't in a hurry, so he agreed to go "overland", off the expressways.

Today, I can only guess at the route, perhaps U.S. Route 25. Probably somwhere around Tazewell, Tennessee, or perhaps Middlesboro, Kentucky, our axle broke.


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Fortunately, we were just down the hill from a farm house. I sat in the car holding down the brake, while Dad and my brother Walt walked up to the house and called for assistance. We were towed to the nearest town, and amazingly they had the part we needed. The car was fixed and we were on our way within a few hours.

I liked to imagine that if the axle broke on the expressway, the car would have careened into a gully and we all would have died. It was my suggestion that saved us all!

I had a pretty good imagination.

You may have noticed that I have "monetized" the site (see Google ad above, and Amazon ad to the right). I don't imagine that I am going to make big bucks off of this little hobby by adding advertising, but if I get a few cents to help pay for my costs, all the better. Another side benefit, is that I become aware of new books. The amazon widget looks at keywords on my page and selects relevant books to include in the box. This morning I checked in and saw the Map on My Lap book. I had never seen it before. But I'm pretty certain I am going to have to get it now.