I like globes, have a couple around the house. This one used to be downstairs in the living room, but a couple months ago I brought it up to my office. Its new location makes it possible for me to take advantage of a feature I never could before. Because of its proximity to a plug, I can turn it on.

Yes, this globe lights up. Not garishly, but in a calm, soft-focus way. Sometimes globe light is the only illumination in my office. And at nighttime, the image is reflected in the darkened window, as if a heavenly body floats just outside my window.

I like having an glowing globe beside me as I write. It reminds me that the world is large, that as I scribble in the darkness, a hot sun beats down on dusty villages in West Africa’s Sahel. It’s already morning there. Another day has begun.