You would think that a lot of experience at camping would toughen a fellow up, considerably. But rain and mud have a way of humbling me. Nevertheless, for the fourth time in two days, I narrowly escaped getting stuck in the mud, thanks in part to actually taking advice from a local expert about mud on certain roads in the Moab area.
It sounds so simple, doesn't it? Taking advice. It is certainly good news to become a 'wise old man' who is willing to finally do so. And yet, it is hard to break the changes down that happen to a person who becomes 'older and wiser.' Perhaps a person becomes humbler and more cautious with each misadventure that happens in life. It finally seems inconvenient, expensive, and stupid to have to learn everything the hard way. Misadventures have lost their romantic charm.
There was another reason for my narrow and successful escapes. I had a pair of rubber-bottomed boots in my van. Rather than rashly bulling my way through the mud, I put the boots on and walked it first. So simple. There is nothing subtle about the difference between ground that is merely wet versus pure gooey muck that swallows a tire. Your judgement from the driver's seat is nothing but visual, and that just isn't good enough.
But learning isn't just a matter of getting control over your behavior and temperament. Sometimes one makes a purely mental/intellectual error, quite apart from moods and emotions. It is easy to fail to distinguish 'raining' from 'being rainy.' When it is merely rainy, things are pretty sloppy outdoors, but still walkable with those wonderful rubber boots, praised above. With a raincoat and a wide-brimmed hat to keep the sprinkles off your face and eyeglasses, you can be comfortable enough on a short walk. It is also a chance to allow yourself to be infected by the attitude of your dog, who of course could not care less about mud and sprinkles.
I have come close to throwing these rubber-bottomed boots away, a dozen times at least. They take up a lot of room in my rig. Besides, it has become 'common sense' to downsize things that do not get used frequently enough to justify themselves. But 'frequency' is not the only thing that matters -- some things you need badly when you do need them.
It sounds so simple, doesn't it? Taking advice. It is certainly good news to become a 'wise old man' who is willing to finally do so. And yet, it is hard to break the changes down that happen to a person who becomes 'older and wiser.' Perhaps a person becomes humbler and more cautious with each misadventure that happens in life. It finally seems inconvenient, expensive, and stupid to have to learn everything the hard way. Misadventures have lost their romantic charm.
There was another reason for my narrow and successful escapes. I had a pair of rubber-bottomed boots in my van. Rather than rashly bulling my way through the mud, I put the boots on and walked it first. So simple. There is nothing subtle about the difference between ground that is merely wet versus pure gooey muck that swallows a tire. Your judgement from the driver's seat is nothing but visual, and that just isn't good enough.
But learning isn't just a matter of getting control over your behavior and temperament. Sometimes one makes a purely mental/intellectual error, quite apart from moods and emotions. It is easy to fail to distinguish 'raining' from 'being rainy.' When it is merely rainy, things are pretty sloppy outdoors, but still walkable with those wonderful rubber boots, praised above. With a raincoat and a wide-brimmed hat to keep the sprinkles off your face and eyeglasses, you can be comfortable enough on a short walk. It is also a chance to allow yourself to be infected by the attitude of your dog, who of course could not care less about mud and sprinkles.
I have come close to throwing these rubber-bottomed boots away, a dozen times at least. They take up a lot of room in my rig. Besides, it has become 'common sense' to downsize things that do not get used frequently enough to justify themselves. But 'frequency' is not the only thing that matters -- some things you need badly when you do need them.
Comments
When we're young we know everything. As we age we realize we never did and still don't. Finally listening to others is, I think, part of the aging process.