Googling the Earth

I found myself in unfamiliar territory today. It all started with an archeology assignment. It ended up with me chickening out and going with plan B. Oh alright, there was a plan C of writing an essay and to be fair I didn't go for it so I guess I get half marks for getting part way there.

Truth be told I have no real experience with Google Earth except for the exploration of a few places here and there, so I felt it was time for me to dive in. I think I forgot to wear my life-preserver since I soon found myself over my head and practically drowning in a sea of green and brown.

It all started with trying to do with my first choice of assignment...trying to find a new and interesting area that an archeologist "might" want to check out. I went with great gusto, closed my eyes and dropped into the first place I clicked into...the AMAZON. It wasn't bad enough that my house FELT like the Amazon. It was hot and muggy and there is no air-conditioning here, but now I have to hunt through miles of green? What have I done??  I swallowed and took a deep breath. Okay...I can do this. Here we go.

I peered into what seemed to be mile after mile of green. Lots of green, perhaps "too much" green. In the back of my head I was saying "there is no such thing as too much green when it comes to our rainforests!", but the front of my mind was saying "oh yes there is".  My eyes got blurry and the green just got all mushed together. Then I saw it...a teeny square of brown. I zoomed in on it only to find it get MORE blurry not less. I blinked for a moment and tried harder to clarify the image. I checked buttons everywhere but couldn't figure out how to make things any better.

I decided to take my coordinates to another website and give it a go only to see....NOTHING. I clicked back to Google Earth and looked. The satellite map was made in 1970. Say what! In jungle years that is at least a thousand right? I gave up at that point and opted to head for a place I knew about and make the "guess where I went" assignment.

I'm so glad I chose that! I did a better job of writing clues than I had hunting dense green canopies for exciting new finds. I'm not done with Google Earth yet....I'm just postponing it for when I have more time to look.

Oh and next time....I'm skipping the Amazon. Perhaps I'll look for Atlantis in the ocean first.