whither whatever
Just before midnight, Tuesday, February 24, 2004 • 182 responses
I received no fewer than four less-than-savory emails from indignant southern Californians responding to my last post, which of course was the perfect inspiration for this post.
When I was a kid, one of my favorite toys was a wooden puzzle of the United States. Each piece, painted in a single bright color, corresponded to one of our 50 states. I’d generally go from east to west, placing Maine first—a ritual which I think imbued me with a fascination for that state, then Florida—because that’s where my grandparents lived at the time, then fill in the rest piece by piece. …