Feel free to comment. . .

Of those maps, there are some of the entire US and it’s landforms.  Which is almost perfect.

You know, because I can’t be happy with anything.

So, I made some transparencies — which turned out almost super-cool.

“Almost”, because the lettering came out fuzzy.

“Super-cool” because you can lay these transparencies over the base map and see where the mountain ranges are in relation to, say, rivers.

I need to figure out the lettering. . .

Oh, but of course, they aren’t ready. 

Nope.

Because while they are usable, they need to be “jimmied”.  Thus far, I’ve been able to do two states per hour.  (I’ve completed 4. . .)  I’m hoping my speed will increase as I get more used to my task.

Still, better than having to re-create the wheel.  Maybe, I’ll be able to figure out how to include a scale, as I go along.

I was looking for a physical map of the US last night.  Oh. My. Goodness!

First off, it is downright difficult to find a US (physical) map that actually contains all 50 states!  Then, when you do, Alaska and Hawaii are in two seperate boxes in the lower left corner giving you three seperate scales on one map.

I get it, in part, for the fact that it allows for the greatest detail.

But, I’m looking for maps for younger ages.  A map that is a “visual representation of the States”.  Thank you very much, but I’ve taught enough young people to know that when they see the typical maps, they will come to a few conclusions.

1. Alaska is south of CA.
2. TX is the largest state in the union.
3. Hawaii is a group of BIG islands.
4. That group of islands isn’t near so far as everyone goes on about.

I’m currently teaching a co-op class for our state.  We took a couple of days to discuss types of maps in general, and for ease of reference we used US maps.  This class includes kids grade 1-8.

Because they are so impossible difficult to find, all of our US maps we settled for were the ones with Alaska and Hawaii in the southwest corner.

Now, a few kids in the class know their facts.  They know Alaska is in the NW, and they know that Alaska is the largest state.  The rest of the class doesn’t have that knowledge yet.

But absolutely all of them were blown away when I threw up, as our last map, this land comparison map.  (We aren’t studying Alaska, I threw this particular map up there for it’s type, and because a number of Moms had been discussing how their children weren’t getting scale.)

Anyway, as I was saying, it’s darn near impossible to find a physical map of the US.  (I have yet to be able to do so.)  The best I could do last night was find one of North America, but that does not include Hawaii.

Hmmm, there’s a thought.  If Hawaii isn’t attached to the North American continent, then which continental mass is it considered attached to?  (Probably just considered “Oceania”. . . .umm, yep.)

Everytime I sit down thinking I’ll have an hour of uninterrupted time, I find myself being called to “fire duty” — putting out those “fires” that inexplicably start when a mom mistakenly believes she will have peace and quiet. 

I’m going to attempt to make a list of things that need to be done.  Possibly, I can get a handle on my time if I have a better idea of where it needs to be spent.

Oh, and I have the theme song of “Gilligan’s Island” running through my head right now.  Believe it or not that will apply to this work. . .

Why is it that everything that is so evident to me to be on a map (or not to be), is obviously not so evident to everyone else?

*sigh*

Oh, I wrote on it, and scratched it out / erased it / started anew. . .

but nothing “worked”.

I finally went to bed with a massive headache, which is actually still hanging on.

And I was just drifting off to sleep when a thought hit me.

I grabbed a paper and pen and jotted it down, and I’m about to see how it turns out when I put it “on paper”.

I wonder how many writers feel it’s all left to good luck / fortune — or, if none of them do?

But, the reality is that I have finally started writing this *thing*.  Is it a book?  A unit study guide?  I really don’t know for sure yet.  I’m guessing it will evolve into what it will be.

And then, it will have to be decided what to do with it.  If it’s good enough, I suppose I could see about getting it published. . .if it’s not. . .

*sigh*

Oh, but I guess, at this point, I should start out by saying this idea hit me just over a year ago.  And then came a period of “simmering”.  Some thoughts just require some time to “simmer” before they can even be thought of further.  Then there was the entire debate of what I’d want to include.  (Honestly, that’s still being debated and will probably be ironed out as this is worked on.)

A month ago I wrote the preface.

And then there was a pause.

A pause something akin to one looking over the side of a cliff.  One of fear, anticipation, (possibly even exhilaration?), but definitely one of fear.

Yet now, I’ve started.  A journey with a vague outline; a map only done part-way and certainly faded and fuzzy for a good portion of it.