Reverend Ref +

UP SOUTH

Okay, I'm going to be fair here.  I've pointed out the foibles of Chicagoland for the last . . . well, since I started blogging.  Everything from their drivers, to their personalities, to the weather, to the claim that the lake is "just like the ocean."  Well, now it's time to point out a particular foible of the Ruby Valley that is driving me nuts.

Look at a map.  Any map.  Where's north?  Up.  North is ALWAYS up on maps.  Where's Australia?  Down under.  The north pole?  At the top of the world.  Antarctica?  The bottom of the world.  For as long as I have lived, north is up, south is down, and east and west are over or back (used interchangeably, such as "back east" or "over in Seattle").  But now, my astute sense of directionality has been, literally, turned upside down.

Out here, in the Ruby Valley, people give directions based on the flow of the rivers.  We all know that rivers flow downhill.  Therefore, anything upstream is referenced as "up" and anything downstream is referenced as "down."  Such as, "Up in VC" (because it's further up the mountain, and therefore further upstream); or "down in Sheridan" or "down in Twin Bridges" (because those towns are downhill and downstream).  This makes sense.  Sort of.

It turns out that, because of the mountains, rivers flow north here.  Therefore, everything north is "down" and everything south is "up."  This whole "down north" and "up south" thing is driving me nuts.  And with two offices to maintain, one here in Sheridan and the other one up in VC, I don't need any help in that department.

So, what are the particular foibles from your particular geographic location.