Rabid Pea-Foul

Today was Take A Hike Day so I drove inland about 15 miles to what passes for remote in my area.  Actually, it sort of is remote; remote-ish; remote-lite; remote-near, anyway.  A lot of times when I hike I see only a couple of people in a four hour period so that's remote for me although if I'm up in the hills I can see houses and roads far below me in the valley, and the ocean on the horizon if the day is clear, and it usually is, so I don't feel like I'm in deep, dark Africa or anything.  The drive today began in the mist, and then drizzle, fog blowing across the road. WTF? I thought, where did this come from?  The weather is so consistent that I'm not in the habit of reading daily reports.

I reached the trail-head and started off.  It was seriously foggy, scary foggy, can't see 20 yards away foggy.  This is unusual for this area which made it pretty cool but also kind of eerie. Spooky.  Monster spooky.  This particular trail is pretty popular, well-traveled, set in amongst farms and pastures, a few houses at the start, so I don't have that city-boy in the country unease that I often have when I get off by myself.  It was so foggy today, however, that I began to get creeped out.  I began to imagine mountain lines stalking me, big Hound of the Baskervilles beasts boiling over the ridge line and tearing me to bits, rabid pea-foul, enraged, pecking me unmercifully.

Fear: A strong, uncontrollable, unpleasant emotion caused by actual or perceived danger or threat. 

For most of my life I've lived in or near large cities.  I'm perfectly comfortable being in an urban environment which is a lot more dangerous than the country stuff.  It's just that I know the scene, I know what to keep vigilant about and what to ignore.  The thought of living in a small cabin in an isolated area make me sweat profusely.  I couldn't do it.

Of course, in hour three of my hike I passed a couple of pleasant older women hiking along.  They didn't seem to be sweating profusely, at least not out of fear.  Then maybe they wouldn't have been quite so blithe if they had to contemplate a trip to Cambodia, either.   When the subject of my next destination comes up a lot of times people ask: "Is it safe?"  I answer politely and roll my eyes discretely. 

Fear: an evil and corroding thread.  Our very existence seems to be shot through with.