By: Blonde Two
Blonde One and I were out on the Princetown with another lady friend on Tuesday night. We were there to attend a talk by Tristan Gooley aka The Natural Navigator. The talk was both entertaining and fascinating and (unlike some I have attended) left us all wanting more. I will tell you more about it tomorrow, but today I feel that I must tell you about our Blonde sweepstake.
We were, perhaps, just a tad overexcited by the fact that: a) We had been allowed out on a Tuesday night. b) We were on Dartmoor. c) We had drunk some very delicious Jail Ale. Being thus overexcited, it seemed prudent to sit at the very back of the talk (plus, like the queen, we arrived last).
We were intrigued about what exactly which bits of nature natural navigation would utilise, and had a very silly and heated discussion about it on the way up (we didn’t walk or even Bimble!) It was decided that to sort this out, we would have a sweepstake. We were each to choose three possible nature-things, and winner was to be the Blonde/honorary Blonde (HB) whose nature-things got mentioned by Mr Gooley (we didn’t choose goolies as possible navigation devices, but I bet a talented chap could!)
B1 – Moss, Trees, Shadows
B2 – Seaweed, Fungi, Stars
HB – Poo, Photosynthesis, Puddles
Now, as you know, Blondes are very, I SAID VERY, competitive. By the end of the evening the words Trees, Shadows and Stars had been mentioned which meant that Blonde One was the winner. When I SAID VERY COMPETITIVE, I meant it and Blonde One, not being content with winning made very sure that she got Mr Gooley to say, ‘Moss’ as he signed her book. He even wrote it in the book for her. This gave her a full house but might be construed by some as CHEATING!!
It was an absolutely brilliant evening so thanks to Dartmoor National Park Authority for organising it and even more thanks to Tristan for his eagerness to share his knowledge with us. His enthusiasm was infectious.
We will tell you what we learnt (Blonde-Learning) tomorrow but if you want to find out more about The Natural Navigator have a look at his website – www.naturalnavigator.com and maybe buy one of his books from the Dartmoor Visitor Centres.
The Natural Navigator
The Walker’s Guide to Outdoor Clues and Signs
I thought he was FAB – could have listened to him all night. Not too sure that I’ll rely on the techniques, I manage to get lost enough WITH a map and compass. That said I have been paying much more attention to tree roots and leaves…..
Maybe nature is the way forward for you then. I see you wandering the moor with flowers in your hair that have been especially selected for their direction giving properties.
Would do anything to become an Honorary Blonde, certainly cheat, perhaps even murder.
Goolies (my preferred spelling) do have a navigational function – they contract where fear predominates. The only snag being this contraction may arrive too late. One may, in fact, have already toppled over that scratchy, jagged black line on the OS map that one thought was to the east but which is actually to the west. Still, it’s nice to know – in the millisecond left – that the map was right.
I don’t suppose this qualifies me as HB, does it?
You will have to come for a Bimble (no minimum length) with us one day to make it to the ranks of HB, you won’t need the goolies, we are far too silly to scare anyone!