All Who Wander (with a Map) are Not Lost

 Once upon a time we signed Timothy up for a little league flag football team specifically for 1st and 2nd graders. Let me begin by saying it was a complete and total disaster. The kids were rough, the coach was tough, and the parents were absolutely insane (during the first game a woman had to be escorted off the field for yelling like a maniac at the kids).

I knew it was a mistake when, after the first practice, the coach passed out a sheet of paper entitled The Undertaker -- a football play the players were told to memorize.

On the ride home from practice, Timothy looked at the x's and o's and thought it was a treasure map.

I loved the fact that a map sparked Timothy's imagination, that he saw the x's and o's and thought of treasures, and pirate ships, and high seas adventure.  It was something I understood completely because maps have the same effect on me.

In this age of Google Maps and GPS, which admittedly I do use, I still like a good old fashioned map. One I can spread out on the kitchen table in order to take notes in the margin; a map with cities and towns I can circle or star; a map upon which I can make x's and o's and use a bright yellow highlighter to mark our route.

That's my idea of a treasure map.