When I was a kid—maybe 6th or 7th grade—I had a friend that could name all the states in alphabetical order. He also could name each state capital. Half a century later, after a career spent traveling the United States, I think I might be able to list them all if I could start with Maine and work geographically south and west visualizing a map. My friend was a pretty smart individual and is finishing up a stellar career as a cardiothoracic surgeon. I often wonder if he can still list the states like that in between heart valve replacement surgeries and repairing aortic aneurisms. And because that special talent so impressed me back in the day, I think about him and his high-intelligence parlor trick every time I see a map of the United States with the outline of states and the Crayola crayon rainbow of colors for each place.
