I made a mistake, today. I went for a small hike on my own. I’ve been meaning to do this one for a while now and got tired of waiting on people to do it with me. It’s very easy and it was going to fit well in my post-ear infection recovery program.
In addition, I needed to do something to distract myself from the gnawing feeling from a budding germinating relationship. Like many, I fear rejection and one way I found to cope with this fear, is to get outside and enjoy the show. So, this morning, I made one last attempt at getting a friend to come with me, but set sails on my own.
The colors were beautiful. It’s late fall and even though most of the leaves have fallen already everywhere, the trees from this park were somehow protected and are in full autumnal bloom. Because it is an easy hike, I got to walk with my nose up pretty much all the way.
A pet peeve I have from hikers around the city is that they don’t say “hello” to each others. I wonder if it’s something from all big cities, where urbanites engage in their outdoorsy activities like they go about in the city. If you drive just a bit further away from the city, hikers seem to be a bit friendlier. Anyway, I digress.
I was marveling at the yellows, oranges, browns, and greens and sniffing the earthy smells along the way as I passed one small family of hikers. Then, I passed a friendly couple, followed by two chatty girlfriends. It’s after passing another set of small family, lover-birds, and friends that it hit me. I’m the only one alone out here.
We often hear about how crowds make you feel even lonelier. I was just not expecting this in the forest. So I finished my walk with a faster pace but making a bigger effort at saluting every families, couples, and friends I passed along the way. Maybe next time I need to cope with my fears, I’ll factor this in. Can’t win them all. 😉
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Being Outdoor With Gwenvir 