Failed logic

I grew up with the mountains directly east of me. (They were nothing to Utah mountains, but they were my mountains, nonetheless.) (Also, let me take this moment to say that I love words that are really three words smooshed together and grammatically acceptable as opposed to my made up ones such as jussasec.) The mountains seemed to be a cap on top of the geography of my home. We rarely traveled through those mountains to get anything. Sure, if we wanted to go up into the mountains to the reservoir or to get square ice cream cones, we'd head that way. But if we ever went anywhere else, we traveled west--the exact opposite direction.

Now, if someone were to ask me which way Utah was, I would have said South. New York? East. Most anywhere in the US? East. (There is plenty still West of us, but the majority is East.) However, in my head, when actually outside and looking at the world, if you were to ask me which way was New York, I probably would have pointed south, perhaps a little southwest. The mountains were the cap! There was nothing that way but mountains. Thus, that must be north. If we went to Utah, we went the opposite direction! Since Utah is south, this confirmed to me that the mountains must be north! If we went to Washington, which is west, we started out heading what is really north, but if the mountains were north, we would have been traveling west--which is the direction of Washington.

I always knew the mountains were east. If you asked me what direction we were facing, I could have accurately told you. However, actual direction and the location of places were two separate things in my head.

You can see how my poor little brain got confused.

I remember the day that I actually stopped and looked at the mountains and thought, "The mountains are east. New York is east. New York is on the other side of those mountains." The thought befuddled me. But... but... that can't be true! There was nothing past those mountains! The majority of the US just can't be over there! I remember asking my mom why we drove west to get to Utah which was southeast from us. She told me simply, "The freeway is west. Once we get on that, then we go southeast."

Although I accepted this as truth, it never actually fit in my head. The mountains were the cap. There is nothing past the mountains. I know this to be false, but sometimes, logic doesn't win. I guess this belief has followed me through the years. Utah is easy to figure out. The mountains are east; the lake is west. I can typically tell you which direction we are going. But I looked at the mountains the other day and it hit me--New York is that way. It is as strange to me now as it was as a child.

I really need to move somewhere that has mountains on the north.