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Tuesday, January 14, 2014

# 500 - Lost in the Forest

I can't believe this is my 500th blog post for Farm Life Lessons. In this journey, I've learned that living in either the city or the country can provide a beautiful life. The great part of my adventure is that I have been graced to experience both and know that I am happy with either way of life.

My house at this time, last year.
Very large home in the Greater Houston area. SOLD!

Got the RV for the temporary residence for the next year while
getting ready to build on the acreage.
This was the backyard in the city...a good sized backyard for the area.

This is now my "side" yard.

In spite of all the excitement I have written about, today I had a difficult moment in the forest of being left behind during a hike. With my terrible sense of direction, I was not in a good spot since I am surrounded by significant forest with difficult terrain, and I had NO IDEA if I were going to end up having to find my way back to residence-land on my own. During that time, it was a hard realization to face the fact that I did not have any water on me, nor a gun, and that was NOT a good feeling.

...It was a feeling I won't forget.

I had on warm clothes, had on leather gloves for climbing, carrying a walking stick made out of the same material as ski poles and a cell phone with a very low battery.

Up until that point, I had a wonderful hike. There were berries on trees that were beautiful. This week, I will be going to the local library because I just received my library card in the mail recently. I'll be checking out books on berries and books on trees.


My lesson today is that I will NEVER walk into the forest, unless I, personally, know exactly where I am, have a significant knife in my pocket, and I will NEVER again go on a hike without my own weapon, checked and with extra ammo on hand.

Live and learn.

That's my Farm Life Lesson, or I guess I should say, my Life in the Forest lesson for the day.

Howdy says, "Howdy!"

And here is a video of me being a bit turned around, but I took this video shortly before the "Get Lost" moment occurred. To be sure, this is an eternal lesson that I should never depend on another person while in the forest, and to never follow one person into the forest with the expectation that they will lead you out because that person might disappear.

http://youtu.be/7skyzy2wTbo

Good thing was, I didn't need a machete chopper in front of me in order for me to wind my way through the forest...turns out I am REALLY good at ducking and diving and weaving and winding and climbing out of ravines.

So, this was a great day because it taught me more about life. My level of wisdom was increased exponentially today, so it was a great day indeed!

4 comments:

Karen said...

Hi Lana, I was entranced reading your post and watching the video. I'm glad you found your way out without harm. I can well imagine the rising panic, though. I've been away from blogging for awhile and had fun reading your adventures I've missed. You are a very brave lady!

www.FarmLifeLessons.blogspot.com said...

Karen - I am planning on buying a much better camera/video camera combo so I can take it with me on my own hikes. I also am considering a head-cam so things can be seen through my viewpoint, especially as I am climbing down ravines and crawling upward out of them. As for the rising panic, yes, I had that, for sure, which is interesting since I have a rare disease that makes me unable to respond physiologically in fight or flight situations. I take synthetic meds to give me the "fight" response, but that one created a huge adrenaline dump, and I have none. I don't let it stop me from living life fully as possible, but I also see that some situations can be avoided by making different choices. Live and Learn! Well, I am glad to live beyond those moments to keep learning! Thanks for reading/watching!

Lana

Dreaming said...

When I'm alone in the forest my fear builds with every rustle and crack. The animal that is stalking me (in my mind) gets larger by the moment. It can be so scary out there!

Chain Stitch Crochet said...

Don't forget a compass too! :o) Glad to see you finally sold the house Lana. That's awesome. Enjoy your land, there's nothing like it.