who can say what flat is - consider the perspective of the universe with it's eternal expansion, warping time and bending light - surely what is quite flat to us is a lumpy speck in the great soup of things
as a vessel tips to its edge - dragged finally by the moon in its rage to subdue the continents - what is plumb then - yes of course the surveyor could tell us with certainty once the benchmark is found - but what good is it if it points us blindly to heaven with no heed of weather, gliding terns or oxygen
"walking out to the edge" seems of interest to most - also occupying the center if it can be found easily - but the edge is definite - no denying it's presence - it's a beginning it's an end and the stuff in between holds little interest - we tend to sleep walk through the middle and cling to the sides - the start - the finish
and so what of the horizon - they say we are living in unprecedented unstable times - I don't deny it - but imagine how uncertain you must be to pack you family into a ship and sail into the distance - not knowing what lies beyond - not intending to return
did they expect to find an edge - or just a blue plane - that eventually became land - fed them and asked them to wonder about a new horizon