Often when I find a new spot or try something new, there’s this feeling that my safety (read: privacy) is not at 100%. It takes a while to get used to new places or things. I’ve been thinking about this lately. A lot of places I do activities at aren’t the most private spots around. Take for example, one spot is less than 8 feet away from a trail that is obviously used. It took several visits before I was comfortable here, and even after a certain level was reached, I still find myself looking over my shoulder every few seconds expecting to find headlights glaring back at me. Even though there have been several times I’ve been there through the entire night and not seen a single person come down the trail, or even drive by my car parked half a kilometer down the road, I still can’t get past the possibility of getting caught.
I suppose this level of paranoia is probably good for me. Considering another spot I’ve been to several times and never felt overly confident in my privacy. Sure enough there have been times I’ve just gotten started and some dork in a big truck will come by to hang out at the spot for a while. Meanwhile, I hide in the bush, shivering… and somewhat frightened, even though I know they have no idea I’m there…
This past weekend I wanted to partake in some activities at home, and spent days preparing only to find myself all paranoid. Even though I knew there was no chance anyone was going to bother me, and I knew this because I had talked to the other tenants in the building earlier in the morning and they were all out doing their own thing that day. There was still a missing element of comfort. Apparently, even locked doors and being assured I won’t be interrupted is not enough to quell the paranoia. I just have to wait it out.
Turbid waters!
I mapped out a new spot where a couple roads intersect near a former railroad track that I can follow to find some murky looking water. This particular area is along a river that passes nearby here, but as it goes toward the east it starts to encounter the ample clay sediments that I’ve been trying to map out. There is quite an expanse of silt/clay soils in the area. And when I look at the nice closeup satellite imagery we have, I can see that the water is much more turbid as a result of the river picking up some of this soil on its way through. I see all sorts of creeks and little offshoots of the river running through this area and they all have this murky look to them. So this represents a great opportunity to put the car somewhere for a few hours and take a walk down the trail.
Today I hope to find some time to map out some actual ‘official’ trails that I can start exploring. This helps to increase the comfort level because I’m not so worried about property owners getting in my face.
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