Dark Side of the Horse by Samson for July 06, 2023

I once was lost but now am found, thanks to my GPS.

I always know where I am. I always carry one of those “You are here” signs with me.

I’m terribly embarrassed to admit that I am unable to understand north, south, east and west. When given directions and words like, “Head south two miles and then go east for another mile…” I am lost, lost, lost. Painly lost. My mother, however… you could twirl her until dizzy in a dark closet and she could STILL point out north, south, east, and west. Without fail. Even at the end when her dementia was at its worst.

I hang my head in shame. I am navigationally (?!) challenged. I have left and right down pat, though!

Two roads diverged in a wood and I,

Considering the one less traveled by,

Said “the heck with it”, turned around and went back home.

Routing a horse.

you are so lucky Horace… no one expects much of you … so you always meet or exceed their expectations…!

That’s OK, Horace. No one can read maps anymore.

That extra mile does Horace in…scanning for the shortest route on my cell…..

That’s why they invented GPS, Horace …… of course it doesn’t mean you’ll actually get to where you want to go ….. :)

I thought I had a pretty good sense of direction until I lead a night navigation mission on foot. When I saw I had lead us into rose bushes and brick houses (Officers Housing), I knew we were in trouble. At the end of the exercise, we wound up on the wrong hill more than a mile from the target.

This was, of course, in the days before GPS. Compass and map are still good for checking your progress.

But just think of all the interesting places you’ll get to, Horace.

iphone maps!

If you find yourself, say hi to Waldo.

I understand this. I love looking at maps, but I have zero sense of direction and so they aren’t a ton of help always.

I toured with a Christian drama ministry for years, long before GPS and cell phones and all that fun stuff. I have toured with several individuals just like Horace here, and they wisely let me hold the map.

Once I and a co-worker were walking in a town to do some contact work, and I had the map. I had already pointed out the general direction where our target lay, and said we’d be turning at the corner. Imagine my surprise when we both turned the opposite direction and walked smack into one another. That’s when I found out he had no sense of direction, I wish he’d told me sooner.

He doesn’t like putting the cartography before the horse.

I miss apps that had arrows so I knew I was going the right way.