I would trust you far more than I'd trust the Sat. Nav, Rebecca.
And I have to say, I really love that expression - 'Plough your own furrow'. It's a keeper and I'm writing it in my journal. Haven't heard it for years.
Gosh, Elizabeth, I hadn't thought of the origins of so many of these phrases - thank you so much for sharing them!
I remember a school trip to Mary Arden's house near Stratford-upon-Avon - she was Shakespeare's mother - and learned that putting a slimy frog in your mouth was considered a good treatment for a sore throat - hence 'I've got a frog in my throat' if you're sounding hoarse. Yuck! I thought this one was interesting, too - the table was a piece of wood - literally a board - atop a pair of trestles, with a good side for when they wanted to show off, and a 'work' side. Only the man of the house would sit down at the table, which would be used for meals or for meetings - making him the 'chairman of the board'.
Thanks, Prue! Thank you for your words about trust - I think if you or I ever went for a walk together we wouldn't mind a bit if we get lost - we'd be sharing so many stories that we wouldn't notice!
Did you ever watch the TV series, The Americans? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2149175/. We noticed in the series that if a character was rummaging around for something in a place that character shouldn't be, a photo was taken before the rummaging so the rummager could put everything back the way it was. Have you tried taking photos of landmarks or even just what you see in front of you, or behind you, so that the way to and from, might be more manageable? Just an idea. That might be a lot of swiping, though. . . We used to have a piece of chalk and make marks on tree trunks, fences, rocks, and so on, when exploring the fields and woods of my childhood town. In the fields, we might insert a stick in the ground with a ribbon tied round the top as a "you're on the right way!" marker. There's a movie in your life, Rebecca, and multiple-Oscar-winning movie, full of the best things. 🗺
Ooooh, I've never heard of the series - I'll have to have a look - thanks, Mary!
I've tried taking pictures, but I struggle to relate 2D to 3D, somehow, so they're not always helpful. Good idea, though. I've tried dropping a pin in Google Maps a few times - that has sometimes helped.
I remember reading a book as a child - hmmm, what was it - it might have been 'Swallows and Amazons', or at least one of the Arthur Ransome canon, where the children setting off an expedition first left 'patterans' for others to follow. They made arrow shapes out of sticks, and placed series of stones and things like that as natural waymarkers.
I don't always go out and back, of course - some of my routes are circular - and oh boy, do I go round in circles.....?!!!!!!!!
LOL re movie! Working title: 'The Lost Cause', perhaps?! 🤣
Yes, I thought of that, but considering that in the eminent British series Waterloo Road, the name of the eponymous school, and a programme distinguised by its complete disregard for anything that happens in schools, all the "kids" are at least 25 years old, so I don't see what the problem is.
Waterloo Road! Although it was by far and away not the only research I embarked upon while thinking about whether I should train to become a teacher, I DID start watching Waterloo Road on BBC iPlayer - frankly, it gave me nightmares. I have led a very sheltered life - Grange Hill was banned in our house when I was a child!
And now you tell me that Waterloo Road isn't even representative of any actual school......! 🤣
Oh, and you're still in trouble. Those two ladies are one and a half times my age between them. #justsaying
good idea. I take photos of how things are packed so that if I have to send them back I can pack them up properly. It never works for me though, which is the only flaw in that idea
Good one about taking photos on how things are packed should one need to return it/them. I find there's always a rogue piece of cardboard or packing material that never fits back in the box . . . perhaps there is more than 1 flaw. I blame the original packer of the thing(s).
Thanks, Mary. The worst example I ever saw was a box containing a printer, in which the quick start guide (inside the box) explained how to open the box.
Aww, thank you, Rebecca for this! I truly appreciate it. I just woke up and you brought a smile and a hearty laugh after reading your lost adventures! Those huge parking lots are the worse. I always make sure to snap a photo of the stall number and what floor I’m in. Worst case scenario, I could ask a parking attendant to help me find my car using the photos as reference. Thankfully, I haven’t had to do that. Knock on wood!
Oh, car parks are a NIGHTMARE! I reported my battered, faded red VW Golf STOLEN to a car park attendant in Germany once. He very patronisingly suggested that I 'go for another look for your car, young lady, and if you still can't find it come back and talk to me again'. I stomped off and had another look.... and found my car a floor higher than the one I'd been sure I'd parked it on.
Needless to say I DIDN'T go back to the car park attendant, and fortunately didn't have to drive past him either on my way out. #phew
And that's SUCH a great idea to take a picture of the space number - I'm so going to do that in future - thank you! 🙌
The first time I parked in a multi-storey carpark I returned to find my mini wasn’t there. I searched on every floor then alerted the carpark attendant. He made me go and search again which I reluctantly did as I knew I had looked everywhere. My gaze, luckily, moved higher than the cars and lo and behold I saw an identical carpark on the other side of the road! Yes, my car was in that one.
Oh wow, such a fabulous story, and I do sympathise! At least my car was 'lost' in the car park in which I was actually looking for it! 😉 You've made me feel a lot better! 😁
Listen. I don't use Starbucks, but I regard the presence of a Starbucks as an indication that I haven't accidentally slipped through a rift in time and ended up in some pre-industrial wasteland. So, does your village have a Starbucks? No? I rest my case
Pardon me if I repeat myself, but have you read Bruce Chatwin’s The Songlines, about how aboriginal people in Australia literally sing the landscape into their memories, when they are on walkabout? I’ve often thought that my wife, who has trouble with directions AND who had a Belgian mom and Australian dad, can’t find her way in the US because her brain is singing the wrong landscapes. How’s your singing voice?
I am ok with woods walking because I can look at trees and then follow the trees back. But I too am totally lost in buildings. You might take a photo looking back every now and then, and then follow the photos back.
I would never ever go into a maze. I would have to crawl out under the bushes. Or they would find my skeleton someday.
I get lost every time there is a detour as the detour markers only tell you once that you have to get off the main road. Once I missed an exit (it was rainy and I was going too fast to take it) and so I drove to the next, then turned around. There was no exit to get to the street I wanted to go onto, so I took the exit anyway, and somehow got lost in a condo complex. I literally was just going to sleep in my car as I couldn’t find my way out. But after about 20 minutes I managed to exit, and then drove around another half hour until I found the correct street.
And I once went North instead of South on a major highway and didn’t realize it until I saw a sign for a different state.
Oh, and once my ex husband and I got lost coming home from an afternoon picnic and drove until we saw a sign for Canada before we figured out we were going the wrong way.
I also navigated my boss to Annapolis instead of DC. I was grounded from using the map after that. Oh well. I told him I couldn’t navigate anywhere!
Buildings are surprisingly disorientating, aren't they? I went to collect someone from hospital a couple of days ago, and when I set off from where I'd seen him on the ward to go and fetch the car to bring it around to the front entrance I hesitated, then looked left.
'OTHER WAY!' said the patient. 🙄 He knows me too well...!
I've never been in the position of considering sleeping in the car, but I do remember abandoning my car on a London street once, near to my brother's flat. I'd driven around and around trying to find a parking space (yeah, in London - rookie error) and had no idea where I was. I got out of the car to look for road names, then rang my brother and asked him to come and find me - oh, and to please park my car. 🙏
"And I once went North instead of South on a major highway and didn’t realize it until I saw a sign for a different state." <--- YOU ARE AWESOME, JULIE! I think we're related! ♥️♥️♥️
I once attempted to go to my son’s new apartment in Boston for Thanksgiving. I couldn’t find the correct exit so kept having to turn around on the turnpike (paying each time!). Finally I drove to the Cambridge section of town, and the guy in the turnpike booth gave me really easy directions. So I managed to find his apartment building area, but all the buildings looked alike and he hadn’t put his name on the mail box. So I just stood outside and bellowed his name. And his girlfriend said to him, “doesn’t that sound like your mother” and they came outside and found me. Thank goodness!
I know exactly how that kind of anxiety feels, Julie. I so often feel at the time that I have to make light of my getting lost - but the way it makes me feel at the moment it happens is absolutely horrible. I find I can look back at these events in a light-hearted way later on, but there is absolutely nothing funny about being lost when you're lost. 😘
I really enjoyed the Write Along yesterday - thank you for having me! Your writing prompt really made me smile - to write about a colour - in fact I was working on one of my own projects.... which DOES involve a colour! Serendipity! 🍊
I learned a new word here -- "to scupper". Your addition of the sound effects was delightful. (The waves sound like home to me!) This was as delightful to read the second time as the first. Never hesitate to bring things back up from the archive. It is a great idea - you have so many new subscribers. I, like you, go back to resurrect a previous piece and am often shocked to see how much improvement it needs! That just tells me that I have learned a lot over my two years writing -- and READING, on Substack.
Thanks, Sharron - I'm so glad you enjoyed the waves!
I wish I'd been brave enough to edit some of my former 'old gold' posts - one recent episode in particular was lacking in what I'm going to call 'writing maturity'! But no, I thought, I need to leave it exactly as I'd first published it! 🤣
I think you're right that all of our reading and writing on Substack is a tremendous boost for our writing skills and practice. And in particular, I'm so glad we've connected - I learn from you all the time, and am always grateful! ☺️
I love taking a hike with you, Rebecca. I feel like I have already put in my daily miles ( sitting here in my pajamas) and don't even have to go out. Beautiful writing here. I love the expression fizzingly busy.
Awww, thanks, Sharron! Can I let you into a little secret? I haven't been for a really long walk on my own for absolutely YONKS.
(Shhhhhhhhh.)
I'm going to get back to it, by golly I am. What with Jim's new book project on the radar I need to maintain my fitness for all of the yomping around woodlands I'm going to be doing! We're not working on location at the moment as he's recovering from recent (planned non-emergency) surgery, but once we are I'm going to hit the ground if not running than at least walking!
You and my hubby are directionally challenged. How about using a field chalker? It’s smaller than a plow. 😉
I must add that when old buildings— especially hospitals— have additions on top of additions they are impossible to navigate. My daughter works at a hospital and every time I talk to her during her lunch hour, as she sits in a side lobby, at least twice in the conversation, she will say, Hold on mom, someone’s asking me for directions. A few times we ended the call so she could guide a lost person to their destination.
Oh, that's a FABULOUS idea, Carissa - I'd have a solid white line to follow the whole way home! AWESOME! 🙌
You're so right about hospitals - they're an absolute nightmare. How lovely of your kind daughter to help people who are lost in the hospital where she works - I could have done with her in our (very small!) local hospital on one of my visits! I wrote here about what happened: https://rebeccaholden.substack.com/p/26-my-eyes-are-fine-so-why-cant-i
I don't know why you don't do what I do. Armed with my copy of The Old Straight Track, I walk only on ley lines. They are always straight, so it's impossible to get lost.
Loved this, Rebecca. I have a problem with following directions as well as trails. One day, while looking for my daughter's office in the local Health Dept. building, I listened carefully to the girl at the desk who told me explicitly to go ALL THE WAY DOWN THE HALWAY AND NO GO UP THE STAIRS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HALL That led to the psych ward where privacy was well guarded. So, I start walking. Seeing the stairs, of course, I go up them and through a pair of swinging doors. Um .... sitting in a circle of chairs was a group of people in counseling. Turn around quick and backtrach, Dimwad! I eventually found my daughter's office and nobody yelled at me.
Oh gosh, Sue! And it's great that everyone was okay about it - that's absolutely right, I'd say, because it's totally acceptable to have a problem following directions, at least in my opinion. 😘 When I'm given directions I can keep hold of maybe the first instruction, and perhaps half of the second one, in my brain, but after that it seems that all bets are off.
It's comforting to know there's someone else out there that experiences the physical world as a big maze in which to get lost. Vaya con Dios, my friend.
Rebecca -- I thought of "us" directionally challenged folks two days ago as I navigated my way into and out of a parking garage. I exited the hotel, walked UP the short flight of stairs to the level where I'd parked (and took a photo--which is a most helpful tool for me!), then doubled back to get a second load of stuff from the hotel. On the way back, I went UP the short flight of stairs, looked around, didn't recognize a thing, then realized I should have gone DOWN the stairs. All the while talking to myself about my silly mistake. Anyone in earshot must have had a curious look on their face.
Oh gosh, I have been in just this kind of position, Elizabeth, and I completely understand why you'd been talking to yourself about it at the time - I do the same! I remember really struggling with the up/down stairs thing the last time I was on a ferry - and the fact that the flights of stairs kept turning back on themselves didn't help, but I'd've made a better start if I'd remembered whether I had needed to go up or down to get back to where I'd started from!
Your writing is purely magical especially here, in how you grab attention in the art of path making. The hounds and the hare, counting one by one. Or two. I was visually caught up. Smiled at your sensibility finding your way ocean side. We live by the Gulf of Mexico and I've had many a sandcastle disappear, it became a favorite winter past time. Build in the morning and see how long before it disappears. I have a harder time in large buildings, mine a fear someone will jump out and grab me. Even in the outdoors, I like my path WIDE! I've not read the Railway Children, so saving as a reminder. I adore children's books, Boxcar Children my favorite. Thanks for bringing me here to this linkup, I'll have to reread some of your other pieces. I think I've seen you over at T.B.D., he writes with such wit, understanding, and support. Seems like such a cool dude with a huge heart. Oh, tieing off your path! I watch a wild adventurer who sometimes shares his canoe travels. Often they have to pull out and triage for miles all their gear and canoe with repeated trips around waterfalls. Bright orange plastic wrap then tied into flags to blow in the wind. Helpful for the next adventurer as well. Maybe we could all carry in our go bags! As long as the forest doesn't burn down, heavens to Betsy!
I would trust you far more than I'd trust the Sat. Nav, Rebecca.
And I have to say, I really love that expression - 'Plough your own furrow'. It's a keeper and I'm writing it in my journal. Haven't heard it for years.
Love that, too, as well as "sew your own row". Farmers are the smartest and wisest.
Ooooooh, 'sew your own row' is great, Mary! I'm sure there are others - how about 'play your own way' or 'scoot your own route'?
I feel as if I've got a phrase-finding project on my hands now! 😀
Yes, and then maybe I'll find a list of phrases on the ground, so you'll have double the work! 😂
🤣 I've got two list posts in progress - I must get on and progress them, Mary, after all your efforts to find lists for me!
Indeed. I'm married to one and have a son who is a farmer too!
When you hang out with farmers a lot, like I do, you become keenly aware of how many of our household idioms derive from farming:
A long row to hoe
Dig a little deeper
Chicken out
Make hay while the sun shines
Beat a dead horse (ack!)
Take the bull by the horns
Have a cow
...and so on! 👩🌾
Gosh, Elizabeth, I hadn't thought of the origins of so many of these phrases - thank you so much for sharing them!
I remember a school trip to Mary Arden's house near Stratford-upon-Avon - she was Shakespeare's mother - and learned that putting a slimy frog in your mouth was considered a good treatment for a sore throat - hence 'I've got a frog in my throat' if you're sounding hoarse. Yuck! I thought this one was interesting, too - the table was a piece of wood - literally a board - atop a pair of trestles, with a good side for when they wanted to show off, and a 'work' side. Only the man of the house would sit down at the table, which would be used for meals or for meetings - making him the 'chairman of the board'.
🐸
Thanks, Prue! Thank you for your words about trust - I think if you or I ever went for a walk together we wouldn't mind a bit if we get lost - we'd be sharing so many stories that we wouldn't notice!
So true.
Come and get lost in Tassie!
I would absolutely love to!
Did you ever watch the TV series, The Americans? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2149175/. We noticed in the series that if a character was rummaging around for something in a place that character shouldn't be, a photo was taken before the rummaging so the rummager could put everything back the way it was. Have you tried taking photos of landmarks or even just what you see in front of you, or behind you, so that the way to and from, might be more manageable? Just an idea. That might be a lot of swiping, though. . . We used to have a piece of chalk and make marks on tree trunks, fences, rocks, and so on, when exploring the fields and woods of my childhood town. In the fields, we might insert a stick in the ground with a ribbon tied round the top as a "you're on the right way!" marker. There's a movie in your life, Rebecca, and multiple-Oscar-winning movie, full of the best things. 🗺
I love these trail marking ideas, Mary B. And your last sentence is something I have also thought.
😁
Ooooh, I've never heard of the series - I'll have to have a look - thanks, Mary!
I've tried taking pictures, but I struggle to relate 2D to 3D, somehow, so they're not always helpful. Good idea, though. I've tried dropping a pin in Google Maps a few times - that has sometimes helped.
I remember reading a book as a child - hmmm, what was it - it might have been 'Swallows and Amazons', or at least one of the Arthur Ransome canon, where the children setting off an expedition first left 'patterans' for others to follow. They made arrow shapes out of sticks, and placed series of stones and things like that as natural waymarkers.
I don't always go out and back, of course - some of my routes are circular - and oh boy, do I go round in circles.....?!!!!!!!!
LOL re movie! Working title: 'The Lost Cause', perhaps?! 🤣
Such a good title! You must play yourself!!😂
🤣
No. Meryl Streep or Herlen Mirren methinks. Playing Rebecca is a job for a professional
🤣
Terry, no disrespect to Misses Streep or Mirren, but couldn't you at least have Googled actresses who are actually 26*? 🙄😉
*okay, I'm not 26. But nor am I 74 (Streep) or 78 (Mirren)!
Yes, I thought of that, but considering that in the eminent British series Waterloo Road, the name of the eponymous school, and a programme distinguised by its complete disregard for anything that happens in schools, all the "kids" are at least 25 years old, so I don't see what the problem is.
Waterloo Road! Although it was by far and away not the only research I embarked upon while thinking about whether I should train to become a teacher, I DID start watching Waterloo Road on BBC iPlayer - frankly, it gave me nightmares. I have led a very sheltered life - Grange Hill was banned in our house when I was a child!
And now you tell me that Waterloo Road isn't even representative of any actual school......! 🤣
Oh, and you're still in trouble. Those two ladies are one and a half times my age between them. #justsaying
good idea. I take photos of how things are packed so that if I have to send them back I can pack them up properly. It never works for me though, which is the only flaw in that idea
Good one about taking photos on how things are packed should one need to return it/them. I find there's always a rogue piece of cardboard or packing material that never fits back in the box . . . perhaps there is more than 1 flaw. I blame the original packer of the thing(s).
Thanks, Mary. The worst example I ever saw was a box containing a printer, in which the quick start guide (inside the box) explained how to open the box.
🤣
I jest not!
That's such a brilliant idea, Terry - good plan!
Thanks, Rebecca
Aww, thank you, Rebecca for this! I truly appreciate it. I just woke up and you brought a smile and a hearty laugh after reading your lost adventures! Those huge parking lots are the worse. I always make sure to snap a photo of the stall number and what floor I’m in. Worst case scenario, I could ask a parking attendant to help me find my car using the photos as reference. Thankfully, I haven’t had to do that. Knock on wood!
Oh, car parks are a NIGHTMARE! I reported my battered, faded red VW Golf STOLEN to a car park attendant in Germany once. He very patronisingly suggested that I 'go for another look for your car, young lady, and if you still can't find it come back and talk to me again'. I stomped off and had another look.... and found my car a floor higher than the one I'd been sure I'd parked it on.
Needless to say I DIDN'T go back to the car park attendant, and fortunately didn't have to drive past him either on my way out. #phew
And that's SUCH a great idea to take a picture of the space number - I'm so going to do that in future - thank you! 🙌
The first time I parked in a multi-storey carpark I returned to find my mini wasn’t there. I searched on every floor then alerted the carpark attendant. He made me go and search again which I reluctantly did as I knew I had looked everywhere. My gaze, luckily, moved higher than the cars and lo and behold I saw an identical carpark on the other side of the road! Yes, my car was in that one.
Oh wow, such a fabulous story, and I do sympathise! At least my car was 'lost' in the car park in which I was actually looking for it! 😉 You've made me feel a lot better! 😁
In civilised places like London, the car park's cameras take a picture of the car and its location.
'Civilised', Terry?! 😉
Listen. I don't use Starbucks, but I regard the presence of a Starbucks as an indication that I haven't accidentally slipped through a rift in time and ended up in some pre-industrial wasteland. So, does your village have a Starbucks? No? I rest my case
It doesn't have a Starbucks, but it isn't a pre-industrial wasteland, either! There is a very nice café, I'll have you know. 🙄
Ok, that sounds nice, so i provisionally take back my comment.
Pardon me if I repeat myself, but have you read Bruce Chatwin’s The Songlines, about how aboriginal people in Australia literally sing the landscape into their memories, when they are on walkabout? I’ve often thought that my wife, who has trouble with directions AND who had a Belgian mom and Australian dad, can’t find her way in the US because her brain is singing the wrong landscapes. How’s your singing voice?
Gosh, Peter, I'd never heard of that - what an absolutely glorious way of cementing a route into your brain!
My singing voice, since you ask, is absolutely SHOCKING - so it's just as well that I prefer to walk solo.....!!! 🤣
what an intriguing and ingenious idea
I am ok with woods walking because I can look at trees and then follow the trees back. But I too am totally lost in buildings. You might take a photo looking back every now and then, and then follow the photos back.
I would never ever go into a maze. I would have to crawl out under the bushes. Or they would find my skeleton someday.
I get lost every time there is a detour as the detour markers only tell you once that you have to get off the main road. Once I missed an exit (it was rainy and I was going too fast to take it) and so I drove to the next, then turned around. There was no exit to get to the street I wanted to go onto, so I took the exit anyway, and somehow got lost in a condo complex. I literally was just going to sleep in my car as I couldn’t find my way out. But after about 20 minutes I managed to exit, and then drove around another half hour until I found the correct street.
And I once went North instead of South on a major highway and didn’t realize it until I saw a sign for a different state.
Oh, and once my ex husband and I got lost coming home from an afternoon picnic and drove until we saw a sign for Canada before we figured out we were going the wrong way.
I also navigated my boss to Annapolis instead of DC. I was grounded from using the map after that. Oh well. I told him I couldn’t navigate anywhere!
Buildings are surprisingly disorientating, aren't they? I went to collect someone from hospital a couple of days ago, and when I set off from where I'd seen him on the ward to go and fetch the car to bring it around to the front entrance I hesitated, then looked left.
'OTHER WAY!' said the patient. 🙄 He knows me too well...!
I've never been in the position of considering sleeping in the car, but I do remember abandoning my car on a London street once, near to my brother's flat. I'd driven around and around trying to find a parking space (yeah, in London - rookie error) and had no idea where I was. I got out of the car to look for road names, then rang my brother and asked him to come and find me - oh, and to please park my car. 🙏
"And I once went North instead of South on a major highway and didn’t realize it until I saw a sign for a different state." <--- YOU ARE AWESOME, JULIE! I think we're related! ♥️♥️♥️
I once attempted to go to my son’s new apartment in Boston for Thanksgiving. I couldn’t find the correct exit so kept having to turn around on the turnpike (paying each time!). Finally I drove to the Cambridge section of town, and the guy in the turnpike booth gave me really easy directions. So I managed to find his apartment building area, but all the buildings looked alike and he hadn’t put his name on the mail box. So I just stood outside and bellowed his name. And his girlfriend said to him, “doesn’t that sound like your mother” and they came outside and found me. Thank goodness!
We probably are related. Lol!
Oh golly! I love that your son's girlfriend identified you from your voice, which meant you could at last be rescued! Hurrah!
People laugh at my inability to find my way, but it has been a source of anxiety to me. I probably have 50 different stories like these. Lol!
I know exactly how that kind of anxiety feels, Julie. I so often feel at the time that I have to make light of my getting lost - but the way it makes me feel at the moment it happens is absolutely horrible. I find I can look back at these events in a light-hearted way later on, but there is absolutely nothing funny about being lost when you're lost. 😘
😂
Oh how I needed to hear those waves today and read these words! Thank you so much Rebecca.
And thank YOU so very much for reading, Julie!
I really enjoyed the Write Along yesterday - thank you for having me! Your writing prompt really made me smile - to write about a colour - in fact I was working on one of my own projects.... which DOES involve a colour! Serendipity! 🍊
Oh yay! I love hearing this...synchronicity moment for the week. :) I'm so happy you came...always a joy to see your smiling face.
I learned a new word here -- "to scupper". Your addition of the sound effects was delightful. (The waves sound like home to me!) This was as delightful to read the second time as the first. Never hesitate to bring things back up from the archive. It is a great idea - you have so many new subscribers. I, like you, go back to resurrect a previous piece and am often shocked to see how much improvement it needs! That just tells me that I have learned a lot over my two years writing -- and READING, on Substack.
Thanks, Sharron - I'm so glad you enjoyed the waves!
I wish I'd been brave enough to edit some of my former 'old gold' posts - one recent episode in particular was lacking in what I'm going to call 'writing maturity'! But no, I thought, I need to leave it exactly as I'd first published it! 🤣
I think you're right that all of our reading and writing on Substack is a tremendous boost for our writing skills and practice. And in particular, I'm so glad we've connected - I learn from you all the time, and am always grateful! ☺️
I love taking a hike with you, Rebecca. I feel like I have already put in my daily miles ( sitting here in my pajamas) and don't even have to go out. Beautiful writing here. I love the expression fizzingly busy.
Awww, thanks, Sharron! Can I let you into a little secret? I haven't been for a really long walk on my own for absolutely YONKS.
(Shhhhhhhhh.)
I'm going to get back to it, by golly I am. What with Jim's new book project on the radar I need to maintain my fitness for all of the yomping around woodlands I'm going to be doing! We're not working on location at the moment as he's recovering from recent (planned non-emergency) surgery, but once we are I'm going to hit the ground if not running than at least walking!
Lovely, thanks for reposting. 💜
So kind, Sue - thank you!
You and my hubby are directionally challenged. How about using a field chalker? It’s smaller than a plow. 😉
I must add that when old buildings— especially hospitals— have additions on top of additions they are impossible to navigate. My daughter works at a hospital and every time I talk to her during her lunch hour, as she sits in a side lobby, at least twice in the conversation, she will say, Hold on mom, someone’s asking me for directions. A few times we ended the call so she could guide a lost person to their destination.
Oh, that's a FABULOUS idea, Carissa - I'd have a solid white line to follow the whole way home! AWESOME! 🙌
You're so right about hospitals - they're an absolute nightmare. How lovely of your kind daughter to help people who are lost in the hospital where she works - I could have done with her in our (very small!) local hospital on one of my visits! I wrote here about what happened: https://rebeccaholden.substack.com/p/26-my-eyes-are-fine-so-why-cant-i
All for an eye exam! Hehe. And those same architects continue to build not enough stalls in women's bathrooms.
You're SO right about the bathrooms! 🚽
I don't know why you don't do what I do. Armed with my copy of The Old Straight Track, I walk only on ley lines. They are always straight, so it's impossible to get lost.
🤣
Loved this, Rebecca. I have a problem with following directions as well as trails. One day, while looking for my daughter's office in the local Health Dept. building, I listened carefully to the girl at the desk who told me explicitly to go ALL THE WAY DOWN THE HALWAY AND NO GO UP THE STAIRS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HALL That led to the psych ward where privacy was well guarded. So, I start walking. Seeing the stairs, of course, I go up them and through a pair of swinging doors. Um .... sitting in a circle of chairs was a group of people in counseling. Turn around quick and backtrach, Dimwad! I eventually found my daughter's office and nobody yelled at me.
Oh gosh, Sue! And it's great that everyone was okay about it - that's absolutely right, I'd say, because it's totally acceptable to have a problem following directions, at least in my opinion. 😘 When I'm given directions I can keep hold of maybe the first instruction, and perhaps half of the second one, in my brain, but after that it seems that all bets are off.
It's comforting to know there's someone else out there that experiences the physical world as a big maze in which to get lost. Vaya con Dios, my friend.
Thank you for leading me to Sundays with Stella! ♥️
Such a pleasure! I love Stella's words and art!
Rebecca -- I thought of "us" directionally challenged folks two days ago as I navigated my way into and out of a parking garage. I exited the hotel, walked UP the short flight of stairs to the level where I'd parked (and took a photo--which is a most helpful tool for me!), then doubled back to get a second load of stuff from the hotel. On the way back, I went UP the short flight of stairs, looked around, didn't recognize a thing, then realized I should have gone DOWN the stairs. All the while talking to myself about my silly mistake. Anyone in earshot must have had a curious look on their face.
Oh gosh, I have been in just this kind of position, Elizabeth, and I completely understand why you'd been talking to yourself about it at the time - I do the same! I remember really struggling with the up/down stairs thing the last time I was on a ferry - and the fact that the flights of stairs kept turning back on themselves didn't help, but I'd've made a better start if I'd remembered whether I had needed to go up or down to get back to where I'd started from!
Your writing is purely magical especially here, in how you grab attention in the art of path making. The hounds and the hare, counting one by one. Or two. I was visually caught up. Smiled at your sensibility finding your way ocean side. We live by the Gulf of Mexico and I've had many a sandcastle disappear, it became a favorite winter past time. Build in the morning and see how long before it disappears. I have a harder time in large buildings, mine a fear someone will jump out and grab me. Even in the outdoors, I like my path WIDE! I've not read the Railway Children, so saving as a reminder. I adore children's books, Boxcar Children my favorite. Thanks for bringing me here to this linkup, I'll have to reread some of your other pieces. I think I've seen you over at T.B.D., he writes with such wit, understanding, and support. Seems like such a cool dude with a huge heart. Oh, tieing off your path! I watch a wild adventurer who sometimes shares his canoe travels. Often they have to pull out and triage for miles all their gear and canoe with repeated trips around waterfalls. Bright orange plastic wrap then tied into flags to blow in the wind. Helpful for the next adventurer as well. Maybe we could all carry in our go bags! As long as the forest doesn't burn down, heavens to Betsy!