Frost Bitten

I moved off of Engineer Street. No, really. My old street was called Engineer Street. I’m sure it sounded neat to whoever chose the name, but putting all of the engineers on Engineer Street made me feel… labeled. And besides, how am I supposed to be cool if I live on Engineer Street? Now I live on Herb Street. I moved to a new flat in Lukonmaki, another suburb of Tampere. I’m quite happy here, though I sometimes still affectionately think about the death metal rocker that lived a nocturnal life in the flat above me on Engineer Street. I have friendly neighbors here, fun conversations, and even a common rec room. There’s quite a bit of opportunity for healthy human contact.

However, I got lost in the forest on the way to catch the bus the other day. I had to catch a slightly different bus because I had just moved and I needed to turn in my old key to the student housing organization. I wasn’t accustomed to this route.

Part of the problem was that I was not yet familiar with Lukonmaki. I also took a short-cut through the beautiful, snowy forest. I felt that I couldn’t go wrong… as long as I headed north. So I was walking and walking… directly north. The snow was deep but there was a good path. I passed by the ski jump place, and a few people shoveling snow out of their driveways. I thought about asking for directions, but I didn’t know the name of the street I was headed toward. I also wasn’t lost. Heading north. I came to a fork in the road. Since neither branch headed directly north; I halted for a moment. I felt like Robert Frost in the forest on this crisp, sunny (well, as soon as the sun rose, it was sunny) morning. If that’s not a good reason to take the road less traveled, I don’t know one. Needless to say, the path got smaller. The turns and counter-forks got more abundant. Just before I started to worry about being lost, I heard a car roar by. I had done it! I had found my way through the forest. I felt smart. I felt like Robert Frost.

Wait a minute. This road doesn’t look busy enough to be the one that I was looking for (that I didn't know the name of). Hey, that grocery store looks just like my grocery store… right next to what appears to be quite a bit like my new apartment building! I was… I was… I was back where I had started from. I need to remember never to listen when I tell myself to take a shortcut.