Navigating Life

 My family always depended on me to navigate during long car trips. I was the map reader. (once, when it was my turn to drive, husband navigated me across a river into a different state/ NOT where we intended to go) Even without a map, I seem to have a 'navigation bump.' I'm thinking it began when I was 8 and climbing mountains on my own with just a lunch bag. Mom taught me to take direction from the sun, to stop and eat the lunch when the sun was right above me (usually on a rock in a meadow surrounded by sheep), and then head back home, reaching home before 5 pm. 

I also use landmarks. Don't tell me to turn on such and such a street. Tell me to turn right at the church, then left on the street behind the church. Telling me your address is fine, but telling me that it's the fifth house on the right is better.

I almost always can tell if I'm going north or west. But why I kept turning east to get to the beach after I moved to the Pacific coast confused me, until I realized that my mind KNEW that the beach was to the east (in Maryland). :) (news note - the beach is to the west of us here on the Pacific coast. :) )

I feel like I'm going uphill when I go North. And I always feel like I'm going downhill when going South. Do you?