Recently I bought a book about signposts. Signposts aren't very interesting, you're thinking. Well, that, of course, depends on whether you happen to be lost! Ancient travelers would have been grateful for these when settlements were smaller and further apart. In winter, the ability to reach shelter for the night could be the difference between life and death.
One of the very earliest waymarks discovered is in Cumbria. Dating from Roman times, it had lain fallen until 1836, when a farmer ploughing his fields came across a sandstone shaft(碑文). There are other stone posts that have stood by roadsides for centuries. It wasn'tuntil 1697 that an act was passed declaring that guide-stones must be built.
This applied to remote parts of the country where there might be confusion as to which path led to the nearest market town. Later, with the appearance of the Royal Mail, the number rose still further. Nowadays many of these early road signs are designated(指定)as Listed Monuments.
"How times change!" Lucy, an enthusiastic walker, to whom I loaned the book,exclaimed.
"I suppose now we all rely far more upon mobile phones to guide us. "
"Yet they aren'tperfect. Whenever I go out, I prefer a map. I never have to worry about running out of battery. " "T'm always grateful to whoever is placing way-markers along the route," she added,"I suppose that however sure we are, a little outside confirmation is always welcome. "
Lucy is quite right there. Life itself can offer us a great many choices of path, and sometimes it isn't easy to know if we've chosen the best one.
Perhaps when it comes to gratitude, we should also include thanks for those people who appear in our lives when we most need them—either giving us gentle warning that we might be heading in the wrong direction, or reassurance that we are on the right track. After all, we'd be lost without them!