How come my friend Ken W. can hike for three days in the mountains, dig a hole and cache his supplies, and then, the next summer, return to the exact spot to retrieve his stuff, while I can't turn around twice without getting lost? Why is it that my college roommate, Allan K., could draw a detailed map of any place on earth from memory, while my friend Ellen P., equally intelligent, cannot remember whether Kansas is north or south of Nebraska or east or west of Missouri, or whether Wales is on the east coast or the west coast of Great Britain? How come some people have perfect pitch and others can't tell if one note is higher or lower than another? Why is it that some people who can't tie their shoelaces are brilliant at mathematics?
How does it happen that there are baseball players who can take a quick look at a ball coming off a bat and run to the spot where it's going to land and stick out a glove and catch it? How do they instantaneously calculate and plot their course? Why did I, as a youth, start in, veer left, turn right, and then circle about in hopeless confusion?
Why is it that the only act of the human brain at which I am naturally superior, gifted even unto genius is one of the least important? I refer, of course, to speling!
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