west by northwest (by midwest)

by indirection, we find direction(s) out

The street names in Salt Lake are having an effect on me.

Most contain two directions, like this:

S 700 E

or

E 700 S

The directions indicate precisely how far one has strayed - latitude and longitude - from Temple Square.  Strayed. I use that word on purpose.  That is the sense I get from the city planning - the grid as spiritual metaphor.  Location as dislocation.  Of course, for those of us who are not LDS, it only reminds us how far away we are from the entire city, not just one square.

Maybe because I never learned to drive, I have never possessed a sense of direction.  The alphabetical street names in Portland, Oregon, spoke my language.  I could navigate simply by knowing Flanders, Glisan, Hoyt, Irving, Johnson, and so on.  Numbered streets progressed linearly; all I had to do was count.

Even the compass directions came easily to me there. Portland divides itself into four radically different quadrants - NE (Alberta), NW (Pearl & 23rd), SE (Hawthorne & Belmont), and SW (downtown & university district).  You know where you are just by the vibe.  Plus, you have to cross the river to move east-west or vice versa.  Mt. Hood makes an excellent compass, too.  No need to check your bearings.  You are never lost.

Here, I find myself standing at street corners, studying the signs and attempting to locate Temple Square (and therefore myself) based on those latitudes and longitudes. (And this, it turns out, reinforces the grid-as-spiritual metaphor: Why am I attempting to locate a temple I will never attend?) Over and over, I confuse the first and second direction, never quite sure if “S” means “south from Temple Square” or “south on this street that is 7 blocks east of Temple Square.”  And then when I finally decipher the address, I find myself confused about the compass.  Didn’t I turn south?  Or was that east?

I find myself forced to confront the compass.

By my own dislocation, I am finding location out.  It feels a little like using fingers to figure math problems, but I don’t want to stray too far and get lost.  Or do I?