Geocaching

Here I am, spilling the beans.  See, there's a secret hobby.  It is called "geocaching."  Here's how you do it:
1.  Get a GPS receiver.  (That's a global positioning satellite receiver.)  Best is a Garmin.  But you could use the Tom-Tom in your vehicle that you use for finding addresses, if it is portable.  Check your cellphone.  If it is like my Droid Eris, it has GPS built-in and you can download a cool little application used to input latitude and longitude coordinates.
2.  Visit www.geocaching.com and register.  Answer some questions (such as your address), and you can search for geocaches in your town, or some place you plan to visit on vacation.  There you will find that on Earth, there are over 800,000 hidden geocaches.  Some will be tiny little microcapsules hidden in hollowed-out tree-knots, and others will be huge geological features, such as a certain geological uplift around Tahlequah.

Voila!  Usually, a geocache will be a hidden ammo box containing a jumble of fun souvenirs ranging from carabiners to compasses, Happy Meal toys to school supplies.  Always, (except, ie geological uplifts) you'll find a log to sign, proving you found it.  Put it back exactly as you found it, and make note of what you take-- always leaving something of equal or greater value in the cache for the next adventurer.

Why do we like to geocache?  Its an adenturous way to get exercise, visit some place interesting, and log a "smiley".  At geocaching. com you can log your find and it will keep track of your game.  Some people program their phone or computer to alert them at the first posting of a new cache, and make it a game to speed around being the first person to visit the cache.  That way, they get the best "first to find" prize.  Just different people create and hide the caches.  Friedrick and I have hidden a few.

That's the background for this cartoon which Friedrick made for me.  To get it, let me add that our Tom-Tom has a feature where the driver can set different voices, such as Homer Simpson or Mr. T, for giving the verbal directions to a location.  Ours happens to be Wardley, a Jamaican voice.  And when you pass up your turn, he alerts you by saying, "What kind of idiot business is this?  Jah no say he want me to tell you again.  Turn round the vehicle."

What's secret about it?
The reason you have probably never heard of geocaching is that it is a secret hobby.  It is secret, so "muggles" or those who don't know about geocaching, won't pilfer the caches and take the treasures.  Occasionally a muggle will happen upon a cache and take it or just the contents.  There are caretakers for each cache, and sometimes trusted muggles are clued-in about a cache so as to help protect it.