Finding Our Way

On Labor Day, my wife and I rose early and drove to a favorite haunt. We had not walked the 2.8 mile inner loop around Greenlake since the pandemic erupted and wanted to beat the crowds and the heat coming later in the day. We were surprised at how many others were out early and we welcomed signs that announced temporary restrictions on wheeled vehicles like bikes and skateboards. After about a half mile, we were shocked at how little room oncoming walkers and runners were giving us. They were quickly raising masks when they spotted us approach. I wondered why they did not leave them up considering the crowd and suddenly realized everyone else was going the opposite way. I told my wife we needed to turn around even if the trail had not been changed to one way. My wife embraces going her own way in life and her first instinct was to resist and incorrectly claim that others like us were also moving counter clockwise. Reluctantly she conceded and turned. This made our adventure so much more pleasant. We found a pocket where our slow pace made it rare to pass others. Runners and a few faster walkers could overtake us but we did not have the onslaught of every single person on the path intersecting with us twice on one loop. Eventually we saw the temporary “Wrong Way” signs. Some had blown down in an overnight wind, others had been appropriated to whimsically advertise homeless encampments under the trees. We had a fifty-fifty chance to pick the right way but we seem to instinctively choose swimming upstream in life no matter the odds. I wonder how many other signs we have missed to better routes.