David Lee Richmond, age 12, of Fairlea, West Virginia, for his question:

How can I figure directions when traveling?

David's question is loaded with honesty and good sense. Too many people stubbornly refuse to admit that they cannot master directions and fail to see that this problem is important. So they get lost and, let's face it, some never do get their directions straight. The strays who wander aimlessly around endure miserable frustrations and waste a lot of precious time. On the other hand, those who know how to get from here to there have a comfortable sense of security when traveling.

Orientation is knowing where you are in relation to the rest of the world. It is a skill that begins where you are and with a great deal of practice can extend around the entire globe. A well oriented traveler carries a security kit including a compass and at least one familiar map. Before he starts forth, he plans his route and learns all the details he can about the territory around it. But none of these things helps unless he has the key to verify his directions and the knowhow to select the right one.

Orientation begins right at home. Although the sky seems a very unlikely place to look for the basic clues: what goes on up there can help you to pinpoint every spot on the globe down here. Practice keeping a watch on the daily path of the sun and match its east west direction to the sides of your house. When you face the morning sun in the eastern sky, remind yourself that north is on your left and south on your right. When you face toward the afternoon sun in tie western sky, remind yourself that north is on your right and south on your left. Even on a cloudy day, the sun usually provides a brighter patch in the hazy sky. Practice using its position until you get a built in feeling of your east west, north south directions. Then learn to locate Polaris in the night sky. It points out the north direction, so practice using it until you get a built in feeling of the other directions after dark.

Orientation starts where you are and the next step is to extend your basic skills throughout your neighborhood, then on through your state, out in every direction across the continent and finally around the entire globe. These extended configurations require a globe and a large assortment of detailed maps. You graduate when you have a built in sense of your position in relation to every other spot on the earth. Carry this mental picture neatly tucked inside your head. When traveling, use a compass and a map, the positions of the heavenly bodies and dozens of other guidelines and signposts to keep verifying your directions. But selecting the right direction depends on knowing where you are in relation to your destination. And that is a global matter.

Successful traveling, near or far, requires a lot of homework and previous planning. But the rewards do more than keep you safely on course. As you study orientation, flat maps become vivid pictures of real places. Latitudes and longitudes are transformed into a global network of information. The earth invites you to participate in its dizzy rotation and the heavens unfold their secrets to guide you safely there and back, wherever you choose to travel. Andy feels that orientation is so important that he is writing a booklet to explain all the details.