cardinal directions

> From:    Yoon Ha Lee <yl112@...>
> > Yes, actually.  There are some Plains Indian languages in North America
> > which have absolute reference points, based on the cardinal directions,
> > rather than relative ones.  It's pretty easy to understand in what kind
of
> > environment one or the other is preferred.
>
> <wry g>  I can imagine.  Too bad English doesn't do that...OTOH, I've
> never been real good at reading the sun's position when it's high up,
either.

It wouldn't be so bad.  After a while living in the same place you (if you
think to look in the first place) end up knowing which way's what wherever
you're standing.  Like, now, I'm facing my monitor, northwest.  The building
I'm in faces south, and to get to the cafeteria I go west, south, west,
west, southwest, south, west, up, east, south,...

It's like being stuck in an interactive fiction game!  A maze of twisty
little passages, all alike.


     *Muke!