I took a new friend hiking today, a friend who is new to this state. Most of the hiking I have done so far in Gone West has been either 1. with someone who knows more about the state than I do, 2. with someone who knows more about hiking than I do, or 3. a trail I have done before. Today I figured out why.
There are authoritative books on the hikes of each part of the state, and yesterday I bought the book that includes Universe City. I looked up some hikes, and my new friend A. and I picked one of them on the drive out of town. We were excited. It looked like a beautiful hike.
We found the road, parked the car, and set off blithely down the left-hand trail. We left the book in the car, because it was raining.
Three hours later, we got back to the car, having not found the place we were looking for, which was supposed to be just down the trail. I took out the book and found the right page.
"Oh," I said. "We were supposed to go right out of the parking lot."
This is why they don't let me go hiking alone.
Back in town, I drove from the pizza place to the dessert place, wondering why people kept darting out in front of my car, until one guy screamed at me, "Turn your lights on, you *#&$ *#$&!"
Oh, right. You are supposed to turn those on, aren't you? Even in a city? It's been 8 years since I drove in this country on a regular basis.
"People do not use that sort of language where I am from," A. said. "In the South, men are supposed to be gentlemen, or at least pretend that they are."
I just laughed, because here the words have lost all their meaning.
Wrong trails and no lights: I am having one of those days.
There are authoritative books on the hikes of each part of the state, and yesterday I bought the book that includes Universe City. I looked up some hikes, and my new friend A. and I picked one of them on the drive out of town. We were excited. It looked like a beautiful hike.
We found the road, parked the car, and set off blithely down the left-hand trail. We left the book in the car, because it was raining.
Three hours later, we got back to the car, having not found the place we were looking for, which was supposed to be just down the trail. I took out the book and found the right page.
"Oh," I said. "We were supposed to go right out of the parking lot."
This is why they don't let me go hiking alone.
Back in town, I drove from the pizza place to the dessert place, wondering why people kept darting out in front of my car, until one guy screamed at me, "Turn your lights on, you *#&$ *#$&!"
Oh, right. You are supposed to turn those on, aren't you? Even in a city? It's been 8 years since I drove in this country on a regular basis.
"People do not use that sort of language where I am from," A. said. "In the South, men are supposed to be gentlemen, or at least pretend that they are."
I just laughed, because here the words have lost all their meaning.
Wrong trails and no lights: I am having one of those days.
No comments:
Post a Comment