Saturday, May 13, 2006, 23:41
Going in Circles
I have always heard that if you get lost, you will walk in circles.
I now know this is true. For me, anyway. Especially when I am walking in the woods.
I took our Springer Spaniel, Charlie, out for a walk this morning. We went a mile up the dirt road, and then we cut into the woods. It has been a couple of years since I have walked that way. There used to be a deer trail in from the road that goes to a network of trails on the neighbor's land. The neighbor has a couple of hundred acres, and there are miles of trails cut through the woods and the old fields.
I can no longer see the deer trail, but I thought I knew where it was.
Notice I said *thought* I knew where it was.
Charlie and I cut into the woods at the spot where I thought the deer trail had been.
Charlie, of course, was more than game for such an excursion.
The distance from the road to the trail is short and only takes a few minutes to walk.
When I had been walking in a straight line for 10 minutes, I knew I had missed the trail all together.
"Where are we, Charlie?" I said.
The brown and white springer looked up at me happily and then went back to following his nose. Charlie did not care where we were.
I continued walking in what I *thought* was a straight line.
Notice I said I *thought* I was walking in a straight line.
A few minutes later, I could see an opening through the trees.
"That must be the field when you take the trail to the right," I said to Charlie.
Charlie looked up at me happily and went back to following his nose.
I walked on farther toward the open spot. The closer I got, the more it did not seem like it was a field because there were trees too close on the other side of the opening.
I kept walking.
And a minute or so later, I knew where we were.
"Charlie! We're back at the road again!"
Here I *thought* I was walking in a straight line, but really, I was going to the right the whole time so that we ended up back at the road about a hundred feet from where we went in.
"Let's try again, Charlie," I said.
I walked to the spot where we had entered the woods. Charlie looked up at me happily and then charged into the woods ahead of me.
This time I was more careful about making sure I was going in a straight line, and sure enough, a few minutes later, we came to the trail. We followed the trail to the open field and then turned around and went back.
"Where's the trail we came in on, Charlie?" I said.
I had tried to take note of landmarks on the way in, and now I thought I noticed downed trees and oddly shaped trees that I had used for landmarks in other years.
Charlie and I got off the trail and walked through the woods toward the road in a straight line.
At least I *thought* we were walking in a straight line.
When we finally got back out to the road, I discovered we had gone to the left this time -- and came out on the road a hundred feet up from where we went in.
All I can say is -- it's a good thing I didn't have a larger area to wander around in or I probably really WOULD be lost. And I know I cannot depend on Charlie to take me home again, either. He has WAY TOO MUCH FUN running around in the woods. For all I know, he might lead me astray on purpose, just so he can run around in the woods some more. . .
LeAnn R. Ralph
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Friday, May 12, 2006, 20:49
In Was Out . . .and Out Was In
One of my mother's favorite stories, a joke really, was about two baby skunks named Out and In.
It seems that one day, Momma Skunk was in the house, baking bread in the kitchen. She had two young children -- Out and In. And on this particular day, Out was in the house, and In was out of the house.
"Go and find In, would you," Momma Skunk said to Out. "It might take you a while to find him, though. I haven't seem him in quite some time."
"Okay, Momma," Out said.
Seconds later, Out returned with In. "Here's In, Momma. I found him!"
"How in the world," said Momma Skunk, "did you find In so fast?"
Out smiled. "Oh that was easy -- In-stinked."
I kind of feel like that today -- "out was in -- and in was out." My kitties, Rocky and Juliette and Gilligan and MaryAnne keep wanting to go outside. Desperately. They put their paws on the door and look at me with ever-so-much appeal. "Please let me out. I want to go outside to enjoy Spring, now that is finally here."
"It is not Spring outside," I tell them. "It is winter. It is cold and windy and rainy and wet."
"Please let me outside," the kitties say.
So I let them outside.
Two minutes later, they all want to come back inside again.
"I told you it was cold and wet and rainy and windy outside," I say.
The cats are content to stay inside for a little while, and then, the next thing you know, they want to go outside again.
A few minutes later, they all want to come back inside.
Then they want to go out again.
I don't know why they don't believe me when I tell them that it is still cold and wet and rainy and windy outside.
But that's okay, I guess. I have a hard time believing, too, that it is so cold and wet and rainy and windy outside! It *is* May after all . . .
LeAnn R. Ralph
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