Alt. History?


 As I'm wrapping up my semester of teaching History-11 (US from pre-Columbian to Reconstruction), I came across this photo, which I took at the garage where I'd have my car serviced back when I lived down in Westchester (on the west side of LA). This was about 5 years ago. For reasons best known to themselves, someone in the mechanic shop that occupied the place before MY mechanic moved in, painted this map of the US (I presume that's the US) on the wall. I counted 46 states, but am at a loss as to what some of them are supposed to be. There was something else - I couldn't work out whether it was Alaska, Hawaii, or Numenor - off the west coast. 

Completely aside from WHY someone would think this was necessary to their shop's decor, I did wonder about their source material. I'm not saying I could produce an accurate map of the US from memory (particularly not on an 18-foot wall) -  though I do remember one night at the condo I used to live in, (which belonged to my father), when I got depressed and painted a giant spiral galaxy in the windowless upstairs bathroom which covered all of one wall, portions of 2 others, and bits of the ceiling.

I'm not sure whether someone's elementary-school geography teacher would weep, or smile with pride.

I'm glad the semester is coming to an end.


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