canyonwalker: Walking through the desert together (2010) (through the desert)
[personal profile] canyonwalker
Yesterday I wrote about Oh, The Places We've Been and the pin map we hang on our wall. Before the holidays I realized that we hadn't updated our map in a while. We needed to add several more pins for places we've been! But our supply of pins was out.

Okay, no problem, I figured. I can jump on Amazon.com and find probably a bazillion different kinds of map pins. But then a funny thing happened.

When I searched for map pins my results also included matches for pin maps. It's kind of an anagram, right? Mathematical property of commutation? 🤣

Some of the pin maps were really nice. Some of them were basically like the DIY project I put together on my kitchen table over 25 years ago except... nicer than DIY. As much as my AAA-map-stapled-to-a-cork-bulletin-board still has sentimental value to me I decided I was ready for an upgrade. I checked with Hawk— because while I started the project we have updated it for 25+ years— and $250 we had a new, custom map in a hardwood frame on the way.

A new, customized pin map of where we've been-- without pins yet (Jan 2026)

The new map arrived in December, before the holidays. It was like a birthday present for me. A present for the birthday which I otherwise didn't celebrate and received no gifts for. But there was a problem. The custom legend, which you can see toward the lower right of the map in the pic above, was wrong. It was only a slight mistake, but it was still there. I considered whether to keep the map as-is because the error was so small. But at the same time I knew that every time I looked at it— every time, daily, for the next 25+ years— I'd see that error. My spirit sank.

Fortunately the maker was really cool about fixing the problem. I sent a brief note explaining the error and asking what we could do. She immediately accepted responsibility for the mistake (her team had botched the custom message in the legend) and said she'd print and send a new one after Christmas.

Indeed, the new map arrived around New Year. And it was perfect. My spirit once again soared.

Old map and new, ready to transfer pins (Jan 2026)

Now all we'd need to do was move pins from the old map to the new one. Hundreds of pins, all marking places we've been (in the USA) over the past 25+ years. It'd be another project, a labor of love.

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canyonwalker

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