Country manners

Strolling in a countryside isn't the relaxing activity one imagines it to be. Aside from possible attacks from cows, insects and people's dogs, approaching a person now fills me with mild terror. Should one greet them or not? Sometimes when I have done I've been completely ignored, and felt like a fool. So now I usually wait for the other person to say hello first, by which time they've usually walked past me and it's too late for me to reply, so I end up feeling rude.

Occasionally I just smile, or half-smile and this feels like a good compromise, though usually the other person isn't looking.

It's also tricky knowing where one should greet a stranger. In the countryside, the middle of nowhere is fine but where does the boundary end? As soon as you reach tarmac, civilisation? Once you reach a town you should probably stop, unless the town's absolutely deserted, then it's possibly okay. Conversely, if it's pretty busy in the country, you can't greet everyone. Maybe just nice-looking old people with dogs.