Equations

The landlord of our quiet backwater lodging in Venice explained how to get to St. Mark’s:  turning right, left, right, left, right, left, right, left.  We laughed, remembering the maze of aqueous dead-ends and long blind alleyways that makes each quest there such a challenge.  But sure enough, it worked.  We didn’t get lost once, following that simple logarithm (or algorithm).

And while changing trains to get across the countryside, I realized that travelling is an equation.   Milan plus Bergamo plus Brescia plus Desenzano del Garda equals Verona.  Busseto plus Parma plus Bologna plus Padova equals Treviso.   When the train doesn’t come you add zero and stay where you are.

It’s fun to see math lessons playing out in real life; to understand the relevance of what you learned those many years ago in school.  (Like when I spent time at the St. Bernard Pass and found myself years and years after Latin classes puzzling out the inscriptions on Roman milestones or votive offerings.)

image:  Dartmouth Apologia