Special Delivery?

We were hiking at the Chiricahua National Monument in southeastern Arizona. We had just about finished and were within a mile of the car. As we trudged along I saw somebody walking down the trail towards us. At first I thought it was a park ranger, based on the brown uniform. However, as she passed, I realized that she was actually a UPS driver.

She had a walking stick with her and nothing else. After she had passed, we tried to determine why a UPS driver was walking on a hiking trail. The most likely answer was that she was taking a quick walk on her lunch break. Still, to make things fun, I wondered if she was making some sort of delivery. Jeff then suggested that she may have been delivering the walking stick to the forest, and we had a good chuckle.

We returned to the parking lot and I looked around and located the UPS truck. To my surprise it was running, and the flashing orange lights in the front were on. For all intents and purposes, it sure looked like how you would leave the truck if you were making a delivery. This was indeed puzzling. Why would you go for a walk in the woods and leave your truck running?

We went about our business and after we had warmed up in the ranger station, as it had been snowing (yes, snowing!), we were getting ready to leave. At that moment I saw the UPS delivery woman walk past. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to see if she still had her walking stick, which would have solved the mystery. If she still possessed it, she clearly had to have been out walking for pleasure, although why she would have left the truck running is still beyond me. If she didn’t have it, she clearly must have delivered it to the forest, which would have made her hike business related.

But now we’ll never know what exactly happened. Of course, that makes the story better, as sometimes a mystery is better if it is never solved.

Still, I can’t help but wonder one thing: If she was delivering the walking stick to the forest, who would sign for it?

Spooky.