On the Rewards of Losing One’s Way
In this era of smartphones and GPS, it is not as easy to get lost as it used to be. Gone are the days of stopping to ask directions, and puzzling over a tattered gas station road map. With a full tank of gas and no place pressing to be, getting lost can be an exciting pleasure, a gateway to discovery. In a sense, being lost is the essence of adventure.
When I set out with the camera, I usually have a plan, but my best intentions are easily de-railed by an interesting side road, or an arrow on a weed-overgrown roadside sign pointing to the unknown. Following my nose, I am soon happily lost.
We discover new things not on a well-worn path leading to a known destination, but by being lost. Being lost in the landscape is a way to be lost in time, and who knows what there is to discover around the next bend.
Of course, the smartphone in your pocket relieves the anxiety of not being able to find the way back at the end of the day, but sometimes I think maybe I would be happy just to stay lost.
Edd Fuller – Photograph and text Copyright 2021
That’s a pretty good-looking stretch of railroad. Perhaps a coal branch? Which railroad? Location?
This location is a few miles south of Strasburg, Virginia. The tracks were laid shortly after the Civil War by the Orange and Alexandria RR connecting Strasburg to Harrisonburg, Virginia. The line was later operated by Southern Railway. Portions of the line remained in use until sometimes in the 1980s. As far as I know, it is all out of service now.
Edd,
I have had the gps fail and not get it right 🙂 depending where you are asking directions can be very hard. I’m amazed at how many times I did this and found the people I asked did not speak English or how they had no idea of their local area! But your right about getting lost it has rewarded me with some great spots to eat:-)
It is an interesting relationship.
Because modern technology exists it’s easier to contemplate photos that otherwise might have seemed too expensive a risk compared to a more comfortable location.
But you lose a sense of discovery when exploring a network of alien roads in search of, hoping for, even praying for, that intersection of the railway and the road.
It’s a paradox of discovery because I go places but lack a bit of the feeling of finding them.
Chris