Reading a map

I wanted a map for my cousin, Beth, who is planning a visit to our home. So I went online. I happened to use Google maps, but there are other free services. I spent most of the next hour wandering Indiana, not because I needed to—I had already sent Beth the maps I thought she would need—but because I like to explore.

I followed the White River east until I drew near to my hometown, then retraced the flow, heading downriver (southwest) to the Wabash and on down, visiting New Harmony, Posey County, Evansville, Henderson, KY, and places where only a few people live in tiny settlements cut off from the nearest similar burg or farm by the loops and whorls of the Wabash and Ohio rivers as they cut dividing lines between Indiana and Illinois, between Illinois and Kentucky, and between Kentucky and Indiana. The map reveals places where a section of Indiana is farther west than a section of Illinois at the same latitude, and other places where a section of Indiana is south of a neighboring section of Kentucky. Intriguing.

 Who are the people who live there? How do they make a living? What do they do for fun? What are their hopes? What are their stories?

Could I read them on the map?

(Map of southwestern Indiana from Google maps online)