I live on a long rural road where there are barely any people. I have to take my dog out for walks, or sometimes I just go for walks alone, and usually the street is a pretty desolate place. However, on occasion, I do come across other walkers. Since this road is more or less very straight for a long ways, I am often put into an awkward situation where the walker and I notice each other and neither of us know what to do. The other person looks at me for a second, and I look at them, and then we look away and pretend not to notice each other for two minutes until we pass each other, where we suddenly look up and wave to each other and then continue on our way. It is very obvious that we both were very unsure of what to do.
So how do I act to make these encounters a bit less uncomfortable? Wave from the moment we make eye contact? Ignore them altogether as if I'm blind? I've come across this situation countless times and I'm still baffled about what to do.