This Morning's Misadventure

This morning I set out on the trail to collect the orienteering markers at 6:30 this morning. For those who may who don't know what being out in the woods at 6:30 on an October morning, let me tell you what it was like.

It was dark! Very dark. And after all of the rain we had last night, it was also very foggy. I had my headlamp on, but it didn't cut the fog well. The stars where bright in the sky, which just meant the sky was clear, not that they were giving additional lighting.

I found my way down the trail of the southern loop at Seidman Park to the bridge. I didn't take my compass or GPS out. I figured I knew the way. It was amazing how easy it was to lose your direction in the fog and dark. I found this out while trying to find the first three markers – A, B, and C on the map. To retrieve A, I needed to go SW from the bridge. Somehow, in the dark and fog, I always found myself back near the stream. Check point B was pretty much straight north of the bridge. Somehow I was too far east by 100' or so. To find Check Point C you needed to follow a "reentrant," then at the end of it head NNW. Somehow, I was too far south. I am sure there is a spiritual application about finding your way in the dark and fog without using a compass.

By the time I got to D, there was some daylight breaking way. I gathered it, as well as E and G. At H there were dark ominous clouds. By this time it was 7:30. Only an hour ago there was clear skies. I grabbed H, and headed north. I went all the way to J. Thunder. Lightening. Over and over. I dropped my gear and put it in a pile, then moved far away from it. I went to the base of the hill under the trees. I waited about 30 minutes and the first line of storms finally passed. I don't think that I had ever been out in such a long hard rain. You know how you are supposed to count "one one-thousand, two one-thousand" between seeing lightning and hearing thunder to determine how many miles away the storm is from you? Well, I didn't quite get to "one."

Then, it was light again to the southwest. "SWEET!" I thought. "I can grab CP I, then F and I can head back home." Well, "I" is under a big norway maple in the middle of the meadow. I grabbed it, then more thunder. I ran for safety. "Not smart, Ed. Not Smart!" I told myself outloud. I couldn't have made it to the far southern part where the woods picked up again. So, I ran west. To an area with an adequate number of trees. I dumped my gear, then hid in the trees. You know how they say, "If the hair on your arms stands on end, you are about to get struck"? Well, the hair on my arms stood on end. I was sure that it was just because I was super cold from the rain on my flesh that was warm from traversing. So, I moved to another set of trees that had more trees.

I waited there and waited there. My first instincts during both lines of thunderstorms was to run for it. Though, I knew better not to. If you run across an open area, especially with communication devices and some other metal objects, you have dramatically increased your chances of being a human lightning rod. Yet, I wanted to. I wanted to hurry and run so I could get back. Part of it I believe was not to feel "alone." Aloneness is a huge part of my story. I wanted to keep moving so I wouldn't feel alone. I wanted to depend on me to get back across the meadow. But, I knew better. Weird as it may sound, God met me there. He replaced hurry with patience. More importantly he replaced aloneness with His presence. I was perfectly fine and secure to wait 90 minutes, and did, under trees waiting for a safe time to go across the meadow. It was cool experiencing God there. Really cool!