You don't always need a road map

[A Desert Rose]

I love being lost. There is so much adventure and so many experiences that being lost offers you. There are so many things you will never see or will never know about if you stay on the beaten path. You can always go back on the path and see those "sites of interest" at a later date. But to wander off down some unknown lanes and alleyways... those are the steps that make the trip so worthwhile, in the end.

The times in my life when I took steps off the known trail and wandered wide-eyed into the "unknown avenues"... those are the times that mean the most to me.

To many of you, those experiences if mine, would be tame. But to me... they are the stuff that my fondest memories are made of.

~~~~~~~~~

Seeing Him across the lobby for the first time. Walking down unfamiliar stairs, in an unfamiliar city, head bowed to meet Him. My heart pounding wildly. Pausing to gather myself up and careful to not stumble. Dry throat and sweaty palms. Desperate to meet His approval.

Oh, to feel that kind of lost, again!

~~~~~~~~~

Would anyone else care to share their lost adventures?

 

[graceanne]

My mom used to say that you're not lost until you run out of gas.

 

[snowy ciara]

Last time I wandered off the beaten path I found an old tumbled down church with a grave yard. There weren't any headstones newer than 1910 ish. It was a teeny tiny place that looked to be native stone. It was about five in the evening; and there was a very old fashioned peace there. I mean, it was like walking into an old daguerreotype photograph. The sunset light had a golden hue that illuminated the dust motes, but the shadows were cold as if they remembered all the winters past. There were still a few stained glass windows inside that broke the light up into little gems. They had a solid look, like you could reach out and pluck one out of the air and put it into a pocket and take it home.

I wandered around the graveyard for a bit and wrote down the more unusual epitaphs. The really weird thing is, even though I had two cameras in the car, (one had b and w film, the other was colours) I didn't take any pictures. For some reason, taking a picture seemed wrong. I'm not sure why, but taking snaps seemed to tarnish the place. Make it seem cheap and tawdry, like the old lady in the circus side show who does the "Olga the Ape Woman" act cause she's got too many stretch marks to be the burlesque dancer. It seemed that enshrining the place in one's memory was the proper place to honour it, not some frozen picture inside a glass frame.

 

[shy slave]

I love being lost. There is so much adventure and so many experiences that being lost offers you. There are so many things you will never see or will never know about if you stay on the beaten path. You can always go back on the path and see those "sites of interest" at a later date. But to wander off down some unknown lanes and alleyways... those are the steps that make the trip so worthwhile, in the end.

The times in my life when I took steps off the known trail and wandered wide-eyed into the "unknown avenues"... those are the times that mean the most to me.

To many of you, those experiences if mine, would be tame. But to me... they are the stuff that my fondest memories are made of.

~~~~~~~~~

Seeing Him across the lobby for the first time. Walking down unfamiliar stairs, in an unfamiliar city, head bowed to meet Him. My heart pounding wildly. Pausing to gather myself up and careful to not stumble. Dry throat and sweaty palms. Desperate to meet His approval.

Oh, to feel that kind of lost, again!

~~~~~~~~~

Would anyone else care to share their lost adventures?

I think I was lost for many years.
I was a RAF brat and no sooner did we arrive ina place we were leaving.
School and home were both difficult places as i never felt I belonged in either, an oddity in both places. (yes well i saw and spoke to dead people and asked odd questions to normal people)

This continued through both marriages, I simply married because I was trying to 'fit in' and 'belong' somewhere.

Most of my life I have felt like I had a different map to everyone else.
My main refuge wherever we lived was the graveyard, i would sit for hours reading books and talking to headstones.

I always wanted to belong, but never knew how.

I had the right map for my work it was the personal life and people things that seemed to be on a different page, the harder i tried the more losts i became.

That said this lifestyle has given me a different map. I feel i belong because as a generalisation people in this life have their own map which suits them just fine.
IMHO
Its better to be lost with others than on your own.

ADR its good to see you post again

 

[A Desert Rose]

Re: Re: You don't always need a road map

.... ADR its good to see you post again

Thank you. It's always good to see you, too.

And thank you and Snowy for your posts here. Both are really interesting and insightful. They tell a lot about the people you both are.

I have memories of a cemetary in my family's hometown that are similar to what Snowy wrote about.

I have a date now, but I will be back to read and post more later.

 

[graceanne]

Sometimes when me and K have time to kill, and not a lot of money, we'll just get in the car, and drive. He's got a great sense of direction, so we never get lost, and it's fun. We talk, and we look at houses, and anything else interesting. It's one of our favorite things to do.

 

[Desdemona]

I got lost in Mexico once and found my car surrounded by chickens and goats. Does that count???

Actually, as you know, I'm sorta lost now. But, I'm waiting to see what's around the next corner.

 

[A Desert Rose]

I got lost in Mexico once and found my car surrounded by chickens and goats. Does that count???

Actually, as you know, I'm sorta lost now. But, I'm waiting to see what's around the next corner.

Well, around every corner is a new opportunity.

If I could be lost in a city of my choice it would be Rome or maybe London. My Spanish is not as good as it used to be, and I'm sure goats in Mexico only respond to commands in Spanish.

Que pasa, mi corazon? (I think. LOL)

 

[rabblerouser]

Well, around every corner is a new opportunity.

If I could be lost in a city of my choice it would be Rome or maybe London. My Spanish is not as good as it used to be, and I'm sure goats in Mexico only respond to commands in Spanish.

Que pasa, mi corazon? (I think. LOL)

I got off the beaten path the other day, in mexico, with goats. Trust me, they don't listen to commands in any language. I even tried "GerrOFFF me you fucking milkbag!"

My car broke down a few nights ago and I had to walk part of the way from town out to the site where we're working. (we're living in RVs on a beach right now, doing an environmental impact survey for a petroleum company.) I went off the road because it makes a big loop to the east, and I was trying to shorten my journey. I stumbled on this farm, where the goats were doing a marvelous guard dog impression. This guy comes out and tries to shoo them away. They bleated rude things in goat at him, then turned back to me. I'm thinking "Crap! I'm going to get eaten by demonic coats in Mexico and they'll never find my body and who's going to finish building the cross in M'lady's basement when I'm dead." Pretty soon, granpa comes out of the barn, pulling up his drawers. (I told myself I didn't want to know.) He looks at the situation and laughed so hard he sat on his butt. The goats bleated rude things at him too. Granpa eventually gets some control and yells "Angelita!". Out from the kitchen comes a little girl. About four. Big dark eyes, curly brown hair, dimples. Too cute. She wades in to the fray, grabs the head demon goat by the ear, starts singing to the beasts and leads him away by the ear. He follows her like a puppy on a string, and the rest of his coven follows him.

It turns out granpa speaks English. We have a good laugh, and I stay for dinner (the hospitality here is outstanding) and eventually he loads me and all the kids in the rattletrap chevy that should be in a museum, and drives me out to the site. It was a bit unusal though; I complimented Abuela on her dinner (chicken) and she says something about he was raised on grain so he was muy bueno. I sayed "huh?". Granpa goes "yesterday at this time, he still going 'cluck cluck!' "

 

[Desdemona]

Originally posted by rabblerouser >snip<
I got off the beaten path the other day, in mexico, with goats. Trust me, they don't listen to commands in any language. I even tried "GerrOFFF me you fucking milkbag!"

Great goat story! The goats I was surrounded by bleated rude things also. I think they and the chickens were in cahoots! However, my rental car was not broken down and they responded rather quickly to my horn and the implied threat that I would run them down as I drove away.

 

[WriterDom]

I just wish I could see a road map like I could in younger days. Reading glasses are so hard to keep up with. And the cheap ones break if you look at them wrong.

 

[Desdemona]

I just wish I could see a road map like I could in younger days. Reading glasses are so hard to keep up with. And the cheap ones break if you look at them wrong.

Getting older sucks, doesn't it? Even with my glasses on, half the time I can't read. I have to get just the right angle and lighting.

 

[A Desert Rose]

I just wish I could see a road map like I could in younger days. Reading glasses are so hard to keep up with. And the cheap ones break if you look at them wrong.

Another who's been missed.



Rabblerouser... that was a great story! Thanks for the post here and the smile!