Taum Sauk Mountain
Missouri
July 2012
Driving to the end of the road to a large parking area, we are ready to begin our summit trek. From the car, we walk a flat, paved walkway — ADA compliant — five minutes to a junction. Generally when we summit, if we have the choice, we loop around and save the high point for the end of the hike. At this junction, we look right and see the connector to the Ozark Mountain Trail, the long way. To the left, less than a minute away, is the high point. We want to continue our tradition but feel an undeniable lure to the left. We want the summit. Right now!
Wait a minute. I said, “right now.” But when one says, “right now,” one could mean “at this very instant.” This is what we mean, so we turn left now. Left right now… to get to the summit.
When my brother Laurence lived in Philadelphia, he had a passion for road rallies. These were vehicle races on the streets of the city, based more on navigation and teamwork, and not on speed. When you register for the rally, organizers give you a list of directions for the course. But these are not typical directions. Rather than say, “Turn right at 16th Street,” they might say, “Hang a roscoe at the big bull’s eye.” Hanging a roscoe means, of course, turn right. The “big bull’s eye” could be a retail store logo, your landmark. In Pittsburgh you might be directed to hang a louie at the big bird, and you would turn left at the Giant Eagle grocery store.
The driver, who must pay attention to driving tasks, needs a navigator to read the clues from the rally sheet as well as assist in spotting landmarks. Your navigator has to be quick and articulate. It would do the driver no good to ask, “Turn left here?” if your navigator responds by saying, “Right!” when what she meant was “correct.”
Laurence’s favorite navigator for these races was his main squeeze, his girlfriend. What a great date!
Laurence told me about the moment in a rally when his squeeze crossed the threshold to mastery: the ability to automatically, reflexively say “right” when she meant turn to the right and “correct” when she meant affirmative. That is when he asked her to marry him.
“Correct!” she said.