letter to friends and kin (aug '21)

----------------------- august 26, 2021 re doings dear friends, how are you doing? for me, i spent most of a week this month coloring a map of the united states. i started thinking about it a while ago after my sister and her beau sent me a puzzle depicting jerusalem in ancient times. i have never been able to mentally visualize the state boundaries. they all seemed incoherently juxtaposed. i send you what i came up with. it shows the states arranged so that with a little effort you too can master this vexing problem. it also shows, using a black border, which boundaries follow a ridge line. the riverine borders can always be distinguished by thier non-linearness. it is also fun looking up the names of the rivers and mountain ridges that border our states - they are really charming. if you really want a challenge, try figuring out the border lines of west virginia, maryland and delaware, or tennesee and kentucky, or rhode island. i am still working on protective facecovers, and my politiku website ( https://www.dlbassman.com ). and, i have fashioned a new cane since my last one broke. have you heard the joke about the rubber crutch? my new cane is based on that concept. it is made from a single maple branch which broke off a tree in our yard. it works great, and my knee's have started getting better too after using it a while. well, i wanted to say hello. i hope i havent taken up too much of your time. pls let me know how you are doing when you have a chance! respectfully yours, d click to see an easily visualized states map (press browser backarrow to return here): visualize the states click to see a remarkably helpful cane: (press browser backarrow to return here): a strung and sprung cane