In the summer of 2009, I asked directions of a woman walking along the Bearpark Road. Of course, then I didn't know it was the Bearpark road. I also didn't know that two of the three possible paths I faced (in which I should have gone the way that looked like it was only meant for tractors) would have taken me towards home. Yes, I had a two-out-of-three chance of getting it right, and managed to go the wrong way. (Fortunately I did lots better on multiple-choice exams at school, or I wouldn't have done so well on the SAT and GRE.)
These days, I run regularly along those paths, and I know where they lead. I know that the way through the farm leads to Baxter's Wood, and brings me back to the Bearpark Road. The path that says 'Bishop Auckland' takes me to the picnic ground, where Thomas likes to kick his football. And the way through the field, up over the hill, which looks like it just leads out into the farmland, takes me straight back to the house in Broompark, where we lived in the summer of 2009.
Now it is I who present the puzzle, apparently--and not just to the horses. It seems that the jogging stroller is a completely unknown item in British baby gear. The first person I encountered along the railway path just looked suspicious and a little amused. (Read: she looked like she was thinking, 'what on earth does that woman think she's up to?') The second person said with surprise, 'I thought you were pushing a wheelchair when I saw you in the distance'. (Ok, I admit that I thought, 'what? haven't you ever seen one of these before?' Obviously that was the case, I just hadn't realized it yet.) The third person to comment said, 'you're very keen, aren't you?' (I didn't even understand this question until he repeated it the second time. I had flashbacks to my first days living in North Carolina: are these folks speaking the same language I learned growing up in California? No offense to my southern friends: it's beautiful. I just couldn't understand it to begin with.)
Finally, I asked a group of young women whether they knew about the phenomenon of the jogging stroller. This time I was the one who had to repeat myself. (First of all, it's not a stroller, it's a pushchair...) Never heard of it. I can't imagine what women who are 'very keen' on running do when they have babies--wait until they can leave the baby and then go? I like running on my own, but sometimes I have to run and there's nobody who can watch the baby.
So I continue to puzzle the natives. Even the horses, apparently.
