Bucket List Adventure #8.1:Being Brown In the Wrong Town? Geocaching: Will It Get Me Arrested? LOL!
I made a decision that in 2019 I would take on more adventures and accept invitations to try new things. Many times I fall into a nice slumber of chilling on my own and doing me--which is what I am most apt to do most days. David, skilled Geocache-er, new friend, asked me if I wanted to go geocache. I had no earthly clue what I was getting myself into. So, what I understand geocaching to be is a worldwide scavenger hunt with coordinates. There are multiple societies dedicated to creating puzzles to help you find a pill sized capsule that you locate and add your name to. Now, this is not necessarily my jam but David was geeked and I said I would try it after a lot of side-eyeing about doing this in a nice tepid 35 degree temps. He wanted to travel to Nahant Beach, MA for his next badge of honor. As we found ourselves in the seaside town, he guided us by GPS to the Beach reservation, which is generally for residents only. My hope and prayer in being two men of color on this hunt was that we didnt get arrested for being Brown in the wrong town. I followed him as he used GPS and sheer will to locate a forested space near the water with giant rocks. It felt like we were in Game of Thrones. We traversed all through the woods and to this space looking for something the size of a hot dog. The clue read: "You will find me between a rock and a hard place". Now I really thought this was kinda cheeky that the clue felt more like a horoscope or fortune cookie message than it did a clue. But we pressed on. In fifteen minutes, he pressed through crevices, climbed rocks, and finally found it located under a non-descript rock. There was nothing special about this rock or the place he found it. But this army camouflage bottle was there. David flashed a huge smile; opened up his Geocaching kit, located his stamper, and marked his name on the small roll of parchment inside the bottle. He took a photo with the bottle and cursed those who weren't patient enough to locate it themselves (many claimed it was too cold to locate this "find". I laughed. I would've probably been one of those people he cursed out. I am not sure how the hell he found it to be honest with you. We would continue onto one more location in Lynn before we called it a day. I am learning that we have to be patient, enjoy the small moments, and really look for the light or good in the moment and the person you are with. I am not about to tell you that I will enjoy geocaching in my near future--but I am not turning it down either. There is something remarkable about looking for something in places and spaces people neglect or overlook. It keeps me mindful that opening myself up to something new isn't as awful as one would think.
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