As the sun begins to set and I switch on my headlights to illuminate the dark snarls of trees and brush that have become my road, outrageous thoughts trickle into my head. What's beyond the Cascade Mountains? Eastern Washington. But how do I know that? How do I know the maps of Washington that I've grown up with are accurate--no--truthful? Other than a brief trip to the U.K several years ago, I have never been outside the states adjacent to Washington, and almost all of the long trips I've taken within those states have occurred with me half-asleep or daydreaming in the back seat. How do I really know anything about the geography of the world around me? There are maps and globes and books and films, things inked on paper and developed in studios by people I have never seen, but how do I really know anything about any place I haven't actually been to? What if everything is different, vastly different? How do I know anything for sure?

Because...

What if enough people had decided that the true nature of the world was just too hard to explain? Like a tired dad telling his son that babies come from storks, what if everyone had agreed to just...simplify it a little?
For the sake of clarity. For the sake of brevity.
What if everything outside the tiny circle of my own travels and experiences is different?

What if the world is still unknown?

........