by brianloudon » Sun Apr 05, 2020 8:40 am
The ISONOD - A whimsical observation.
A line joining equal altitudes above which hill walkers nod, wave, chat or otherwise greet each other and below which communication is not engaged in as people consciously look the other way.
I’ve often remarked on this invisible line. In the old normal, for example, in the Pentlands I observed it to occur somewhere between the top of Turnhouse Hill and the car park at Flotterstone. I would often test my observation by bidding a cheery hello to other walkers, whether they wanted to engage in conversation or not. Actually the more determined they appeared to be to avoid eye contact, the cheerier the greeting.
It can move with time. The first time (1981, I think) that I climbed Ben Lawers it was about 10m east of the, then, visitor centre. When I climbed it in September 2019, from the An Stuc side, it was about 10m east of the summit.
I’ve seen the isonod drop to lower altitudes before - the Beast from the East being a case in point. I’m delighted to note that it currently, in Covid-19 shut-down crisis, seems to be well below the 50m contour, and has been on most of my recent local excursions to the shop, round the block to stretch my legs, etc. I’m prepared to accept that the recent observations have not been extensive (!) but long may social interaction continue, albeit at least 2m physically distant for the time being.