From: riburr@shentel.net   
      
   Nelly W wrote:   
   >   
   > I actually got lost last fall wandering around Lum's Pond, thinking I'd   
   > get my bearings like I always do. Instead wound up walking around the   
   > pond for about 8 miles and at my age & having arthritis it was not a   
   > good thing. I also wouldn't go wandering around the several-hundred acre   
   > retreat a property of mine abuts without a GPS, either.   
      
   I've noticed a somewhat diminished awareness of bearings as I've gotten   
   older.  Time was when I *couldn't* get lost; always had an infallible   
   internal map that recorded every twist and turn, distance and landmark.   
     It was kinda like a sixth sense that told me where I was without even   
   thinking about it.   
      
   Apparently, as with eyesight and hearing, sense of direction does not   
   sharpen with age.  Once, I could remember a particular small rock while   
   hiking for miles in the forest.  Now, they all tend to look the same, so   
   I have to select something more memorable; a fresh water spring, an   
   outcropping of iron ore...  I find the sound of trickling water to be a   
   good marker when it is present near a trail.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)