Yesterday evening, after dinner and after dark, I left my house to walk down the street to the general store. I’d had a glass of wine with dinner, and as I stepped out of the door, my slight tipsiness combined with the dark of a cloudy night left me feeling disoriented. I felt my way past the cars in the driveway; when I got to the clear of the road, I felt clearer myself, and my eyes had adjusted to the dark. I headed north toward the store. Although I couldn’t see its porch lights yet, I knew they should be on, and the wireless should be working.

I walked to the store because I needed to finish loading today’s interview, by Tim Stallmann, of cartographer Denis Wood. We don’t have Internet access at our house. Not having the Web there makes it feel cozier, and also more real: a real place. There’s no exiting via the wormhole of the Web, no not being here. It’s inconvenient, sure, but if I hadn’t needed to put the finishing touches on Monday’s piece for Fringe, would I have walked out into the night otherwise? Most likely not. Locating the Internet at a specific place, and one that’s not my home, works to my advantage.

I sat on the bench outside the store, next to the rip in its cushion that divides the stripes of the fabric, wearing a red and white stripey shirt. Where’s Anna Lena? I know where I am by the smell in the air. By the feel of the surface under my feet. By visiting the parts of where I live that feel important, over and over again.

But for larger questions of place, it helps to have expertise–people who know craft, who can use the right tools. Which is why I’m happy that Tim was able to interview cartographer Denis Wood for Fringe’s maps issue. Wood made maps of his neighborhood in Raleigh, N.C., over a period of years; these were featured on This American Life a while back and have now been rereleased by Siglio Press as Everything Sings: Maps for a Narrative Atlas. The book is a treat; it’s a treat too to listen in on Tim’s conversation with Denis. Hope you enjoy it.

If you have thoughts on place and place-making, maps and map-making, please comment below. We’d be curious to hear them.