Fun With Google Maps
reading: Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
I had inspiration one night recently to look up some landmarks on Google Earth. Have you ever looked for your own house there? You would be surprised how much fun that can be. My childhood home and my current home show up in very high detail. Other areas of the country do not show up so well, so it's always a crapshoot.
Do you remember my research blog about Nunney Castle in southwestern England, a castle owned by my ancestors? I have seen scores of pictures of the castle from the ground, but I had never seen it from above before. I knew it had a moat surrounding it, but I did not have a true sense of its scale.
I also had never seen the castle in respect to its physical location in Nunney. It looks like it could have been the center of the town at one time. You can see the castle just above the green arrow. Do you see the small building across the street (almost just to the right) of the castle? That is All Saint's Church, another building with medieval origins. It is not that spectacular from above, so I won't bother providing a close-up of it.
I could not resist sharing some Purdue lore with you. The first picture is of Ross-Ade Stadium in all of its glory. The picture just below is of the old Zeta Psi house on South Grant. As far as I know, the house has been demolished by now. The brothers took possession of the new house this school year. Again, I was so thankful that I got to visit it one last time this past summer.
Here's a couple more from the high school days. The first one is of my high school football stadium. Tippecanoe Valley, between Akron and Mentone. The second one is the football stadium at Whitko High School in South Whitley. That is where I played my last varsity football game. We lost to them in the sectional finals of the state playoffs in the Fall of 1986. Do you see the series of lines just below the school? That's a graveyard! That contributed to a lot of running jokes for anyone traveling to Whitko for an athletic event.
No, nothing of mine is buried there; neither physical nor metaphysical. It's all with me.
Check out the shoes Dylan made for me! He even made them in Purdue colors. What a great kid!