I think I told this story on the old forum, but I'm nearly 75, so I'm allowed to repeat myself. I was, I think, four or five years old, and I was trying to walk to my cousin Calvin's house. I grew up in a rural area where I was related to everyone, so I was allowed to walk to my cousin's house and had done it several times before. Although my uncle's farm abutted my dad's, their driveway was about a half mile from ours. The closest way was across my dad's field, through the fence, and across my uncle's field. My cousin's house was west of mine.
I don't have a clear memory of what happened because if I had been clear about it at the time, it wouldn't have happened, but I do remember that I was reduced to sitting down and crying.
The problem was that the fields weren't clear at the time. Both my dad and my uncle had planted corn, and the corn was high, or at least much higher than I was at that time. Trying to reconstruct what happened, I assume that my dad had planted his corn with the rows leading east and west; otherwise, even at that age, I don't think I would have considered walking across the field to be a reasonable shortcut.
I probably set out thinking that I could simply follow a row west to Calvin's house. I know that I reached the fence line okay, so that plan went as intended. I can't tell you with any clarity what went wrong after that, but I suspect that my uncle had planted his corn with the rows northwest and southeast. Had I followed a row northwest, I would have ended up north of my uncle's farm buildings, and it would have been a longer walk before reaching the river, plus I think there was a swampy area around the river at that point. However, that is irrelevant; although I might have considered that, I never made it that far.
Why didn't I simply cross back over the fence and follow a row back home, and then take the road, you might ask? I think I can answer that, knowing myself as I do. For my whole life, I have resisted backtracking. Once setting out to reach my cousin's house through the field, I would have tried to do just that.
I can't tell you exactly what I did because I don't remember, and if I was clear in what I was doing, even then, I probably wouldn't have done it. I do remember walking from one row to another, so I think I tried to continue west against the flow of the corn.
In the end, I remember walking for what seemed like forever, and finally resorting to sitting down and crying, and eventually, my older brother, Sheldon, found me, and I don't think I ever made it to Calvin's that day.
I don't have a clear memory of what happened because if I had been clear about it at the time, it wouldn't have happened, but I do remember that I was reduced to sitting down and crying.
The problem was that the fields weren't clear at the time. Both my dad and my uncle had planted corn, and the corn was high, or at least much higher than I was at that time. Trying to reconstruct what happened, I assume that my dad had planted his corn with the rows leading east and west; otherwise, even at that age, I don't think I would have considered walking across the field to be a reasonable shortcut.
I probably set out thinking that I could simply follow a row west to Calvin's house. I know that I reached the fence line okay, so that plan went as intended. I can't tell you with any clarity what went wrong after that, but I suspect that my uncle had planted his corn with the rows northwest and southeast. Had I followed a row northwest, I would have ended up north of my uncle's farm buildings, and it would have been a longer walk before reaching the river, plus I think there was a swampy area around the river at that point. However, that is irrelevant; although I might have considered that, I never made it that far.
Why didn't I simply cross back over the fence and follow a row back home, and then take the road, you might ask? I think I can answer that, knowing myself as I do. For my whole life, I have resisted backtracking. Once setting out to reach my cousin's house through the field, I would have tried to do just that.
I can't tell you exactly what I did because I don't remember, and if I was clear in what I was doing, even then, I probably wouldn't have done it. I do remember walking from one row to another, so I think I tried to continue west against the flow of the corn.
In the end, I remember walking for what seemed like forever, and finally resorting to sitting down and crying, and eventually, my older brother, Sheldon, found me, and I don't think I ever made it to Calvin's that day.