[nagdu] Haas anyone ever gotten lost in their own yard?

[William ODonnell]

That is a first.

> 
> Hi List,
> I had a rather frightening experience last night.  I
> was wondering if a
> similar experience has ever happened to any of you, or am I
> the most
> directionally challenged person in the history of humankind
> (grin).
> Usually, I can brag that Gilbert is a perfectly behaved
> dog.  He always
> obeys me, and when I take him out to relieve, I take him to
> his
> designated spot just off the porch in the grass, he does
> his business
> efficiently, and we go back into the house without
> incident.  But every
> once in a while, and it seems to be when snow has just
> melted, and there
> are all kinds of new currious scents, he will get so
> preoccupied with
> sniffing that he leads me far past his relieving area, and
> I get lost.
> It has only happened twice, but last night was the most
> frightening
> because it was midnight and I was completely alone. 
> On top of that, I
> forgot to put my cell phone in my coat pocket, and I didn't
> even bring
> his harness so he could work me home if I got lost. 
> Living in the same
> house for 18 of my 19 years, you would think I should know
> the way
> around my own yard right?
> Anyway, I live in a rural suburban area with no sidewalks
> and a two acre
> yard.  I took Gilbert into the grass, and he peed like
> he was supposed
> to, but then he started walking and sniffing.  At
> first, I thought he
> was just sniffing out the perfect spot to poop, but after
> awhile when we
> started getting farther and farther from the house, I
> realized he was
> sniffing out of naughtiness, not looking for a place to
> poop.  I gave
> him a correction and tried to tell him firmly, "let's go
> home.  The
> trainer did recommend that I have Gilbert on a long leash
> when he
> relieves, but I prefer short leash because on long leash,
> it is harder
> to tell when he is squatting to poop, and harder to find it
> when he is
> done.
> I turned in what I thought was the direction of my house,
> and used an
> old trick I figured out when I used to get myself off the
> school bus and
> walk up the driveway.  I slapped my right leg with my
> hand, and the
> sound echoes off the house, thus leading me in the right
> direction.
> What I didn't realize until last night though is that this
> echoe can
> also bounce off trees, so before I knew it, I was walking
> into a clump
> of trees.
> A huge weakness of mine is that I am a panicker, so when I
> realized that
> I had walked into a clump of trees, of course I
> panicked.  I ran in
> circles trying to pick up an echoe, and when I did hear one
> and follow
> it, I only went deeper into the trees.  
> I tried shouting for help but no one heard me.  I
> tried waving my arms,
> but there was nobody outside, and even if there had been, I
> now realize
> they probaly wouldn't have been able to see me from where I
> was anyway.
> I don't know how long I wandered in panick, but finally
> rational
> thinking did set in.  I realized that I could either
> camp out there all
> night, or calm down and retrace my steps.  I knew I
> was capable of the
> latter.  I told Gilbert to sit, took deep breaths, and
> realized that I
> could hear cars.  If I followed the sound of the
> distant cars, I would
> end up back at my driveway.  I turned around, ducked
> through the tree
> branches and followed the cars.  When I slapped my leg
> again, I heard
> the familiar echoe, and this time the echoe led me the
> right way.  I
> have never been so overjoyed to feel blacktop under my
> feet!
> Last night during the ordeal, I was on the verge of tears,
> but since all
> ended well, I can now reflect back and laugh.  If I
> made it home alive
> in the worst possible circumstances, getting lost on my
> college campus
> will be a piece of cake now.  And I also learned why
> cell phones were
> invented (grin).
> Allison and Gilbert
> 
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