Forest Gump

Sunny and dry at Blue Mountain, Canada. I decided to go for a run. We are staying at Janet's cousin's farm house and is about 6 km from the nearest town. She suggested that I take a run downtown and she will ride along with her and catch up with me at the local farmer's market with Cayenne. "It is mostly down hill anyway." She suggested. Sound good to me, not too difficult and something to look forward to after a nice run.



I set foot on the path at about 1oam and suggested that she catch up with me on the path 45 minutes after I leave. We agree that if she doesn't see me, she will go into town but if she sees me, she would pick me up on the road.

I made a left onto the path, feeling good about my decision to run. But to my surprise, the road was mostly up hill. I also brought my camera to take pictures of the endless farmland and different pattern of the corn field. I walk some and run some, overlooking farm after farm, red barns, white picket fence, tractors, Soy Beans and Corn. So relaxing.

45 minutes into my run, I found that I am still no where near the town and I haven't seen Janet come by. I started to wonder, if I am going the right way. I reassure myself that by the next hill, the town will show up. Another 10 mintues has past and still no sign of Janet and the town. Then I started thinking that I have not be going down hill but up hill. Now, my guessing begins. There is no way Janet has not passed me yet and the road just doesn't look right. After another hill and still in no where land, I made a decision to back track. Thinking if I go back, I will see the house and if Janet is gone, then I must have went the wrong way. Sure enough, her car was gone. Still feeling good, I run pass the house and head the other direction. Since it was down hill, I felt better about the direction and it was also easier on me. The house number was 1775 and I reached 2000 and then it went to 1000 again. O no, why do I feel that I ran to another town. Still no sign of the town and another hill after another hill, I got used to it. I ran and walk for almost 2 hours now and I might as well keep going. But where is the town?

Well, I never found it. after I reached 1300, I finally think that I should head back, I need to leave some energy for me to return back to the house. Luckily, it is only a one way street. My knees started to shake and the sun is beating down on me at 1230pm. My lips felt salty and since I thought I was only running for an hour, I did not bring any water. This reminded me of the one time Jonathan brought me hiking in Boulder Colorado for the first time and we got lost and didn't bring water or snack and we end up walking for 6 hours and exhausted. I kept thinking about that time, listening to Cold Play on my ipod when suddenly a cop car stopped right next to me.

She asked if I was Yvonne Mather. My heart sunk, O shit, what did I do now, am I not suppose to walk along this path? But wait, how does she knows my name? She explained that she got a call that I was filed as a missing person and my friend Janet is really worried about me after I have been missing for 3 hours. She waived that I get into her car but I refused. I said, I already went through 3 hours and I am only two farms away from our house so please let me finish my journey. Another 1/2 hour and I finally arrive back to the house. Janet came greet me with a bottled water worried sick about me. She said she did see me on the street and because there was a big tractor behind her, she cannot stop in the middle of the road. Since I was so close to town, she left me thinking that I will finish in no time and will catch me at the market. I cannot believe all the second guessing when I was just so close, only one more hill to go and I will be in town.

How my thoughts can mess my brain up enough to make you go crazy. Life is full of second guessing and if you are not strong to resist the temptation and insist on your goals, things can just slip out of your hands and out of your mind. How an unexpected run can lead to so much emotions and make this an experience that I will never forget.