21 December 2021

Compass

Earlier this month, as I was walking in  high countryside near the village of Flash, I found a compass made by "Silva" - a Swedish company that has been producing high quality compasses since the nineteen thirties. It is an Expedition 4 compass and it was just lying there in the rough grass on a little trodden public footpath. Lord knows how long it had lain there.

A few years ago, in a similar spot,  I found another compass made by "Silva". It's the smaller blue compass that you can see in the photograph. I have never really trusted that one and when you need to check directions, a trustworthy compass is vital.

The Expedition 4 sells for around £30 (US $40) so I was faced with a dilemma. Should I attempt to track down the distraught rambler who accidentally dropped it? However, even as I contemplated this,  my moral compass kicked in and said - "No! It's okay to keep it!". After all, sixty eight million people live in this United Kingdom and tracing the owner would be far more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack.

Moral compasses are very useful. They guide us, helping us to live with ourselves and sleep soundly in our beds at night. They are also useful as crap detectors or gauges,  allowing us to understand more clearly what's going on around us - in our neighbourhoods and in the world at large. 

Some politicians seem to have moral compasses that are very much like the blue compass I found  - difficult to rely upon and liable to give false readings.  A good example of this is the scallywag who currently resides in 10, Downing Street, Whitehall, London.  His moral compass is all over the place.

While writing this post, I also thought of the word "encompass" which is a very nice word that doesn't get enough airtime in my view.  Its meaning suggests a full understanding - getting the whole picture though of course it can also be used in more mundane ways. For example, we may talk of the Coca Cola company "encompassing" the globe with its famous fizzy drinks.

Time to stop rambling on and travel west for another ramble in the nearby countryside.  I won't need my new compass today.

33 comments:

  1. But do you know how to deal with magnetic deviations?

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    1. Same way as I deal with all deviants. Smack 'em on the head with a wet haddock.

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  2. Well, sounds like the gods of walking sent you a Christmas present. Perhaps some other hiker threw the compass away in frustration. Who knows? Anyway, it is yours now.

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  3. I have a rose compass tattooed on my behind so I don't lose my way. At least that's the theory:)

    There seem to be a lot of broken moral compasses these days, although I'm sure that humans have always been so.

    Hope you had a good ramble. I hope to make it out today with the bigger dog, as the weather is warming up to -4C before it begins it's free fall into horrible cold over Christmas.

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    1. Just back from my walk. It was a grey day but not raining and I found a nice woolly hat so that's the wife's Xmas gift sorted!

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    2. Thank you for making me laugh.

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    3. Let's hope that The Big Guy is just as generous!

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  4. I have a compass almost exactly like the clear plastic one. Who knows, it may even be made by the same company. But I haven't used it in probably three decades. I guess I've just never been somewhere were dead reckoning (knowing the rough directions by sun) hasn't been enough. But when I was younger and spent time in the mountains and a more precise location was useful, I used it all the time.

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    1. Time in the mountains? Were you a fugitive from the law?

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    2. Backpacking for pleasure.

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  5. I should mention, a couple times I was stumped using the compass, only to realize the rock beneath my map upon which the compass rested has magnetic properties!

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    1. No doubt Tasker Dunham could have sorted that out. See the first comment.

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  6. When I was about 10 years old, my Dad taught me how to read a compass. Usually, I don't need one on my very tame walks and hikes; even in the most remote parts of the Black Forest, paths are (usually) reasonably well sign-posted. But it is one of the basic skills everyone who loves the outdoors should have, and I am not at all surprised that you own not one, but two compasses. One could say that your walking equipment encompasses two compasses (even though only one is really reliable).
    By what I know about you and your family, the YP moral compass is completely trustworthy.

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    1. Perhaps your dad was also thinking of the metaphorical compasses that reside in all of us. He wanted to guide you in more ways than one.

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  7. Do you always carry your compass, or just when you suspect you'll need it? (Not the moral one -- the physical one.) The iPhone basically has a built-in compass, so I suppose I have one too, but I almost never use it. But then, I'm rarely out rambling around the countryside.

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    1. I only take a compass when I think I might need one. Are iPhones called that because they are all about the owner "Me-me-me!" or "I-I-I!" Seems likely.

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  8. My husband still has the compass that served him well during the years he worked in the woods, but I've rarely used one. Considering I seldom venture off our land, there's no question of getting lost. (famous last words) My latest find was an extremely weathered machete. Anyone meeting me on my walk home that day would have given me a wide berth.

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    1. Every woman needs her own machete. Far more effective than pepper spray.

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  9. Anonymous9:58 pm

    I have a compass like the clear one but I am not sure of the maker. Now where is it...

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  10. My moral compass is something I’m happy with xx happy Christmas YP

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    1. Which way is your compass pointing? Happy Xmas John!

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  11. Well, you very smoothly moved the compass to some moral issues that you wished to bring forward. Very smooth!

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    1. So smooth maybe I should have been a politician!

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  12. I saw a shirt that boldly read 'not all who wander are lost'. Beneath that, in smaller letters, it continued 'except me. I am lost'

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    1. Great shirt. I had a T-shirt specially made years ago and on the front it just said "T-Shirt".

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  13. I gave my compass away to the youngest as she is a scout leader. Never found out how to use it though. But I love maps and the detailed information that makes walking a joy.

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    1. Without a compass, how can you know where you are going Thelma?

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  14. A compass - wow how old fashioned! I thought everyone used Satnav now -surely you don't need a compass to find your way to the pub!

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    1. No! But I need it coming home from the pub Carol!

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  15. I usually orientate myself by the position of the sun, but with our climate that is not always possible. No wonder I am always getting lost!

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