Lost Cause

How much can I really expect to improve my sense of direction?

I hope this external compass works better than my internal one. (Photo by Ethan Sykes)

When I took my first new car on a test drive, the dealer, sitting beside me, said, “Turn left.” I went half a block past the turn, then did a U-turn.

“I can’t buy a car,” I said, “that can’t do a U-turn.”

There’s a story that my family tells, about when I was about 12. We had gotten up at…