Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Today I've really done it. I mean, I know about my navigational skills - or lack thereof. I just thought I could outwit myself. You know, do an easy out & back. Follow the same road home that I've run to begin with. For that to work though, one must be able to remember which road one has taken. And there lies the problem. It all started out according to plan. Then for some reason I decided to turn down a road I've never been on. Why? It looked nice. That's it. I couldn't even tell you the name anymore.
At some point I decided it would probably be best to head towards home. Only by now, I was high on endorphin and figured a loop would be more fun than taking the same road back. And that's where the trouble started...
You see, I orient myself by sights. It works pretty well in large cities with big monuments to guide you, for example the Eiffel Tower. In a neighborhood where every street has trees and old houses, this strategy has the potential to backfire.
Some of the street names seemed familiar, so I took those for a while, running up & down all kinds of Virginia themed roads (Mt.Vernon, Arlington, etc.). After seeing the same lawn ornament 3 times, and wondering why the name "Winters" is so common in this area, I realized I've been running my loop after all. Just not towards our house.
At least it was a great day for running (in August, in the South) - cloudy, with a slight breeze to cut through the humidity. But at some point, once the panic starts to rise, you lose all that beauty & recount your survival knowledge. That's when I vowed to bring my cellphone on the next run. For I had neither my phone nor any money to use a public phone. I suppose money wouldn't have been of any help anyways, since the last time I saw a public phone was in 2003.
Luckily, there was a young man out, walking his dog. I had passed him before, and instead of running by him again (in the same spot...), I asked for directions. He pulled out his magical phone, and mapped out my route to safety. I was 10 minutes away from our house. (Has anyone ever read Stephen King's "The Girl who loved Tom Gordon"?)
So here I am now, eating chocolate, celebrating my return!

Thank you for running with me today!

Until next time,
Nadine