On Maps and Geography …
Liam’s world included maps — the ones he created and the ones he pored over intently in books and atlases.
Once again, Liam’s and Elsa’s violin teacher, Mrs. Payton, had an influence in Liam’s entry into the world of geography. She introduced him to a book she kept in her studio:
Is this a Map?
After reading one of my favorite books, The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, by Reif Larsen, I would say that Liam’s black and white drawing above is a map. It maps out the geography of Beatles song lyrics by way of stick figures, odd mechanisms and Liam’s weird expressiveness! Reif Larsen had a way of expressing ideas, thoughts, memories, events and emotions in his novel using maps he included in the margins of the pages of his non-standard-width book.
I shared parts of this book with Liam when it first came out in 2009. Later, I read it again with a much more emotional susceptibility. Reading books again at different times through different experiences tends to have that effect.
Maps and geography remind me of Liam’s desire to explore and travel. He once wrote that when he was younger, he’d imagine that the big, red couch in our living-room was a boat.
Maps also bring to mind the Fairhaven Middle School Geography Bee…
It’s been at least 12 years since I’ve made an entry on this website. I left off here under Geography where I started to include Liam’s maps and related interests. So, while I want to write about Liam’s experience with the Fairhaven Middle School Geography Bee, it is a farther off memory now.
What I still remember is a story I was told about Liam and his classmate and fellow competitor, Emma. Perhaps it was Emma’s mother, or a teacher who related this story. Nonetheless, it is about two middle school students who are both geography enthusiasts and humble souls. I don’t remember how much Liam prepared for the Geography Bee. But his focus over time on maps and foreign lands and cultures instilled in him a rich atlas of information. I imagine he met the task with his best efforts. Still, it was Emma who came in first, and I think he came in second.
The most telling part of the story, though, is that Emma had approached Liam to reassure him and tell him that she had possibly won because she studied. Perhaps her explanation doesn’t come off with as much of the modest reassurance with which it was explained to me. But that is how the story was related, and I hold that moment close to heart because I know Liam was mostly surrounded by kind souls drawn to his own humble nature.