Chat
04-03-2016, 12:55 AM
Last year, I went camping in the way out west boonies of west Texas with the hubster and a friend. This was an assigned camping trip-I don't camp without a reason-and we had to be in place by the last blood moon. So we're out beyond the middle of nowhere, two hours from a phone signal and a source of water or bathroom and four hours from anything resembling a town.
The day after we set up camp, the spouse decided he was going to go for a hike, to climb a nearby hill. It was hot and there was no shade, so he put on his hat, loaded up with water and a few sandwiches, and headed out. While the terrain wasn't completely flat, I would be able to see him except for the few times the land dropped down, so I wasn't concerned. If anything happened, I would know. When he left, I checked my watch. It was approximately 1315.
He climbed to the top of the hill and I could see him moving around up there because he was wearing a bright blue ball cap, the only color in the brown landscape. I busied myself with those never-ending camp duties, stopping now and then to check on his whereabouts. After a while, I saw him begin to descend the hill. By now the temperature had to be in the nineties and there was a dry wind blowing so I knew he would be hot and tired when he returned to the camp. Checking my watch again, it was now 1430.
I went to the little enclosure we'd set up as a bathroom facility and when I came out, I checked on the spouse's progress. He was nowhere to be seen. I wasn't concerned, thinking he was behind one of the low hills between us and went back up to the picnic table to put a bottle of water in the cooler, where it would chill. After a few minutes, I checked the area again. Still no sign of the spouse. Okay, he probably took the long way back, skirting around the hill instead of climbing over it.
After another half hour by my watch, there was still no sign of the spouse. We had brought our binoculars with us so I hauled them out and scanned the area. No sign of that bright blue ball cap. The hill wasn't so big that it would have taken him over a half hour to circumnavigate it. I parked my tush on the picnic table and continued to scan the area.
An hour passed. Still no sign of the spouse. My friend came up to the table and asked if the spouse was back yet. I told her no and that I hadn't seen him in some time. She looked around and commented that we should be able to see him. I know, I told her. She asked if I'd tracked him yet. I said I was just getting ready to do that. I dropped down into the flow of the energy and found him right away. He was lying on the ground, as if asleep. It didn't feel like anything was wrong, even though I had no idea why he would be lying on the ground. I told my friend what I saw. We discussed the situation. It was now 1630 and we decided we'd give him until 1800 to get back to the campsite. If he wasn't back by then, we would still have enough time to search for him before dark.
I sat on the picnic table and waited. My friend went back to her tent. Everything was quiet, except for the sound of the wind in the bushes, which gave me time to think and drop right into the "what if?" fear. I dropped back into the energy to see if anything had changed. Nope, he was still lying on the ground. What if he'd been bitten by a rattler? Maybe I should head out now and go looking for him.
A small voice whispered in my head that he was fine, that it was necessary to take him so healing could be performed on him. Take him? Did that mean he was dead? If I hadn't panicked before, I was panicking now. The soft voice assured me he was fine and when the healing work was finished, he would be returned.
I decided I needed to meditate before I worst-case-scenarioed myself into a full-blown panic attack(I joke my super power is imagining the worst case scenario, no matter what). When I finished meditating, I looked up and there was spouse, coming down the hill. It was now 1730. In addition, he was now coming down a way he hadn't been coming down when I lost sight of him. When he reached the campsite, his face was red and his shirt was soaked with perspiration. I quickly made up an emergency electrolyte solution and insisted he chug it down. He did. Then he asked what was going on. By now, my friend had joined us and we told him he'd been gone for over four hours. He didn't believe us. As far as he was concerned, he'd only been gone an hour. We told him to look at the sun. That's when he realized that somehow he lost three hours. He's a pretty laid back guy so all he could say was "Whoa."
I don't know where he went or where he was taken. But wherever he went, it took three hours. And after an incident with my friend losing over an hour and ending up having to figure out where she was to get back to camp, we made sure there was at least one person at the campsite at all times. It seemed to be the one temporally stable place in the area.
The day after we set up camp, the spouse decided he was going to go for a hike, to climb a nearby hill. It was hot and there was no shade, so he put on his hat, loaded up with water and a few sandwiches, and headed out. While the terrain wasn't completely flat, I would be able to see him except for the few times the land dropped down, so I wasn't concerned. If anything happened, I would know. When he left, I checked my watch. It was approximately 1315.
He climbed to the top of the hill and I could see him moving around up there because he was wearing a bright blue ball cap, the only color in the brown landscape. I busied myself with those never-ending camp duties, stopping now and then to check on his whereabouts. After a while, I saw him begin to descend the hill. By now the temperature had to be in the nineties and there was a dry wind blowing so I knew he would be hot and tired when he returned to the camp. Checking my watch again, it was now 1430.
I went to the little enclosure we'd set up as a bathroom facility and when I came out, I checked on the spouse's progress. He was nowhere to be seen. I wasn't concerned, thinking he was behind one of the low hills between us and went back up to the picnic table to put a bottle of water in the cooler, where it would chill. After a few minutes, I checked the area again. Still no sign of the spouse. Okay, he probably took the long way back, skirting around the hill instead of climbing over it.
After another half hour by my watch, there was still no sign of the spouse. We had brought our binoculars with us so I hauled them out and scanned the area. No sign of that bright blue ball cap. The hill wasn't so big that it would have taken him over a half hour to circumnavigate it. I parked my tush on the picnic table and continued to scan the area.
An hour passed. Still no sign of the spouse. My friend came up to the table and asked if the spouse was back yet. I told her no and that I hadn't seen him in some time. She looked around and commented that we should be able to see him. I know, I told her. She asked if I'd tracked him yet. I said I was just getting ready to do that. I dropped down into the flow of the energy and found him right away. He was lying on the ground, as if asleep. It didn't feel like anything was wrong, even though I had no idea why he would be lying on the ground. I told my friend what I saw. We discussed the situation. It was now 1630 and we decided we'd give him until 1800 to get back to the campsite. If he wasn't back by then, we would still have enough time to search for him before dark.
I sat on the picnic table and waited. My friend went back to her tent. Everything was quiet, except for the sound of the wind in the bushes, which gave me time to think and drop right into the "what if?" fear. I dropped back into the energy to see if anything had changed. Nope, he was still lying on the ground. What if he'd been bitten by a rattler? Maybe I should head out now and go looking for him.
A small voice whispered in my head that he was fine, that it was necessary to take him so healing could be performed on him. Take him? Did that mean he was dead? If I hadn't panicked before, I was panicking now. The soft voice assured me he was fine and when the healing work was finished, he would be returned.
I decided I needed to meditate before I worst-case-scenarioed myself into a full-blown panic attack(I joke my super power is imagining the worst case scenario, no matter what). When I finished meditating, I looked up and there was spouse, coming down the hill. It was now 1730. In addition, he was now coming down a way he hadn't been coming down when I lost sight of him. When he reached the campsite, his face was red and his shirt was soaked with perspiration. I quickly made up an emergency electrolyte solution and insisted he chug it down. He did. Then he asked what was going on. By now, my friend had joined us and we told him he'd been gone for over four hours. He didn't believe us. As far as he was concerned, he'd only been gone an hour. We told him to look at the sun. That's when he realized that somehow he lost three hours. He's a pretty laid back guy so all he could say was "Whoa."
I don't know where he went or where he was taken. But wherever he went, it took three hours. And after an incident with my friend losing over an hour and ending up having to figure out where she was to get back to camp, we made sure there was at least one person at the campsite at all times. It seemed to be the one temporally stable place in the area.