Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Mt. Rubidoux

I am woman, hear me roar.

I did better than I thought I would. I walked up the road instead of taking the trail. I didn't get all the way to the top because they were doing some construction on the bridge that crosses over the road and I didn't feel like tripping over the rubble and orange cones. It was still a three mile walk, half of it uphill.

It was gorgeous! Lots of stormy looking clouds in the sky and the view of Riverside was ever so clear. It really is a beautiful walk. At the beginning, just before starting up the hill there was this creepy looking kid (maybe 17 years old) sitting on a stone wall. He stood up as I walked by. He looked kind of squirrely to me so I reached down and picked up a rock. He turned and walked the other way. When I came back down he was still there, kind of shuffling back and forth. I started looking around for another rock when a girl came jogging down the road. She stopped when she saw him. I said, "How 'bout you and I walking together past this guy?" She thought that was a good idea. I found a nice chunk of cement and picked it up. Again, the kid turned and walked away. She and I walked the rest of the way down the hill and had a nice chat. Man, that kid was creepy. Next time, I'm bringing a dog.

Today is Drew's birthday. Happy Birthday, Drew! Tonight we're going to Olivia's for dinner.

2 comments:

Brother Atom Bomb of Reflection said...

It could be that this kid was unfortunate enough to be blessed with a creepy look and had poor social skills. On the other hand, if I may put on my male chauvenist worry-wart hat, she who walks alone may attract trouble. There is always more safety in numbers, hence the beauty of the Monday Night Walk. If you want, I can entertain you with my surplus of stories of friends who didn't think anything would happen but then found out it could indeed happen. Carrying a small weapon is a good idea to. Or getting some self-defense training.

But walking in large numbers is always best.

Walking elsewhere when alone, like in a neighborhood, is good too.

I'll check my calendar, and check with Phill. If the Monday Night hike is still on, I'll be there.

Donita Curioso said...

I figured it would be ok to walk alone because there are always a lot of people there. I met up with several nice people who chatted with me a while and then moved on. There were big clumps of cyclists that went by. The place was actually pretty busy. It almost seemed that the only time I was alone was when creepy guy was there.

No, you don't have to tell me your stories. I know bad things can happen. I know I'm vulnerable.

A rock is a small weapon.

I didn't know if dogs were allowed. Now I know. Even a wimpy dog like Boz is a deterrent. If creepy guy shows up again I'll throw Boz at him.

Anyway, thank you. You can wear your male chauvinist worry-wart hat any time.