A Man in the Woods

An unexpected experience while hiking

Photo by Kirk Thornton on Unsplash

I had a moving experience yesterday.

I was hiking in the woods behind the local university. It’s a protected environmental study area for students, and also connected to Henry Ford’s mansion, Fairlane. There are the usual forest animals that I like to look for, especially deer, and a man-made lake full of turtles, frogs, and fish. I love walking there in all seasons and have never felt unsafe. There are several trails, well-groomed, for the most part. It’s not big enough for an all-day hike, but I can happily spend a couple of hours wandering there. It’s one of my favorite places, and only 10 minutes from my house.

I was on a more remote trail yesterday when I heard someone coming up from behind me. I turned and there was a man wearing a NYC Marathon shirt who was obviously going faster than I was, so I moved over to let him by. I smiled and told him that he could pass me. He said thanks, and told me to have a good day. I wished him the same. He was clearly in exercise mode and I was an obstacle on the narrow path, so I moved over. Easy-peasy. I will stress that I did not feel threatened by him at all, no Spidey-sense going off, no prick of intuition. It did make me wonder and plan, however, not for the first time, what I would do if I did feel unsafe with anyone out there. I do that a lot, make a ‘what if?’ plan. I do it…