Truths: Confused, Revealed or Forgotten?

Truths confused

Retirement offers ample time to focus on one’s bearings.

On waking, my attention tends towards the structural bearings: the state of my natural and prosthetic joints.

But by evening, my thoughts often question where exactly I am.

A news item catches my eye:

Man rescued after sailing blunder

A lost sailor had to be rescued after running out of fuel circling a small island when he thought he was sailing around the UK coast.

With only a road map for directions, he set off on the river Medway, from Gillingham, and headed for Southampton.

But the coastguard said the man had ended up travelling around the Isle of Sheppey. A spokesman said “This guy had run aground after running out of fuel. He was attempting to travel around the UK from Medway to Southampton and somehow lost his bearings and ended up travelling around the Isle of Sheppey. He didn’t have the usual navigation charts or maritime equipment.”

The man told the rescue team he had been keeping the coastline to his right and had ended up sailing in circles around Sheppey. After the coastguards gave him advice on fuel usage, it is understood the man later attempted to continue his journey.

Published: 2010/04/28 01:55:28 GMT © BBC MMX

The story is amusing and instructive.

Am I boldly setting out to experience life’s myriad wonders?

Or, wasting opportunity and energy, confined in the tight circumnavigation of habit?

Truths revealed?

Truths forgotten?

Reliable charts? Accurate navigation equipment? Ready for stormy weather?

Who am I kidding?!

(Both cartoons from this month’s editions of  The New Yorker)