Caution

I saw a social media post about a jogger who was followed by a man in a car.  I have seen quite a few of these lately, usually in rural Midwest, small county roads - women in cars followed by men in cars.  Supposedly single females being followed by single men in cars with no licence plates.  The men in cars engaging in strange behavior, such as photographing the women, passing them, then slowing down to be passed, then repeating.  This happened to me couple times when I was a young woman.  Maybe I will write about them tomorrow.

I have seen posts in the past about walkers and joggers being followed, over the past few years.  I wish I could point to some national story that might have been the inspiration...There have been some national news stories about this.  A woman in California taken and then later she escaped.  Several stories about joggers back East. 

Then this post I saw last night.  This post was in my old neighborhood of our city house.  This is the 2nd such incident in 2 months in this same 2 block area.  There was a local news story last night about this woman who did the social media post.  She reports that a man in an SUV was parked and when she jogged by, he drove down and cut through at a turn and came up the side she was jogging on.  By then, she joined another jogger and the SUV then left. 

I walk there still while we are in extended stay hotel.  The hotel is on an outer road with no shoulder, so I felt it was too dangerous to walk near the hotel.  So, I have been driving over to my old neighborhood and walking.  Now I am not so sure.  I told DH the other day that I often see cars go by and then go by again, I thought not much about it.  Now I have doubts.  DH says he will walk with me after retirement.  I guess I better have him join me now.  But I cannot find anyone who wants to walk as much or as far as I do.  And I will walk in hot or cold.  Makes me sad.  I really need my walks.  Walking helps me get vitamin D, helps me stay trim and lets me eat what I want, helps me clear my mind, creates neurotransmitters, gives me solitude.  If I keep walking, I will stop listening to my books, which is a big part of what I enjoyed.  Guess I can't have it all. 

When I walked last night, I also saw a vehicle stopped by a road that did not continue (like where you see the signs with red diamonds).  The vehicle was running and there was a man sitting in it.  DH said maybe the man was watching his wife jog - I did see several other women jogging.  If DH won't/can't keep up with me - I guess I will just have to have him go with me and at least sit in his car and watch me.  Crazy isn't it?!

I guess I may try to go to yoga tonight.  It is worth the $15 per time.  If I cannot walk outside, I just don't know what I would do.  I guess in my little small town usa retirement town, I will walk laps around town instead of walking out in the middle of nowhere.  But part of the appeal of where I walked here in the suburbs was seeing nature, birds, critters...etc. 

I wonder if this is some sort of worry phenomenon or if there really is more young women being followed.  This hysteria on the heels of the girl missing and then found dead in Iowa?  What do you guys think?  I do not walk without protection, I will just leave that at that.  But I am still just a middle aged woman, no match for a strong man or men.  It really makes me wonder.