Centered

From grade school on, I have always loved geography. The physical features of the land as well as the political lines our species draw on that land are equally intriguing to me. I have a great desire to know where everything is and what it looks like.

As part of this quest, I found myself wandering through a cornfield a few weekends ago, looking for the center of the western world.

Twenty-one miles west of Wausau, Wisconsin, and a few miles from the small town of Poniatowski is Meridian Road and a tiny park with the 45×90 Geographical Marker. This marks the exact spot that is halfway between the Equator and the North Pole and halfway between the Greenwich Meridian and the International Date Line, the place where the 45th Parallel of Latitude intersects with the 90th Meridian of Longitude.

There are actually four 45 degree-90 degree points in the Northern Hemisphere. However, I’m not likely to visit the other three; one is in the Pacific Ocean, one is in a mountainous region of China near Mongolia and one is in the Indian Ocean.

In the Southern Hemisphere, 97% of the 45th Parallel passes through open ocean. Here’s a photo from New Zealand, one of the rare spots where it’s not underwater.

So my best bet was the cornfield in my own state. The day was warm, the sun was setting, the corn was high and I got myself centered…always a good place to be.

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2 thoughts on “Centered”

  1. Amazing! As Johnny C. would say, “I did not know that.” And I’m wondering if Michael did. Surely we would’ve visited it, had it known. xxxevie ps: nice fence.

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