Non omnes vagi perditi sunt
3/1/2002
Markwell
I found a great quote for Geocaching and Geodashing in one of my favorite books: The Lord of the Rings, Book I: The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien. In it, the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins has written a poem describing the wandering heir to the throne of the King of Men: Aragorn (also known as Strider). Aragorn has chosen the life of a Ranger of the North, wandering the wilderness defeating the allies of the Enemy and protecting the northern lands. Bilbo\’s poem is below:
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
The line “Not all those who wander are lost” really captures the essence of Geocaching and Geodashing – we wander through the wilderness enjoying ourselves, but we are not lost by any means – unless of course, there are two of us with GPSrs. I wanted to use it as a tag line to my signatures, but I found that a fellow cacher and dasher (Ed Hall of the Geocaching Pin Maps) was already using it. So, I had some help translating it into Latin, just because it sounds “brainier” and is kinda cool.
One of my fellow dashers also found the translation into Elvish from the Lord of the Rings book, but since I don\’t have those characters on my computer\’s keyboard, I\’ll just leave it as Latin.
Early in my GPS experience, I posted my first response to a question in the forums. This was before I even had my GPS. The thread topic was Naive question, but what\’s the point? I recently re-read my post, and found it much more eloquent that I usually am. Italicized sections are additional comments added in 2002.
I, too, am fairly new to Geocaching, but I’m getting into it purely for the edification of my 5 year old boy. This summer, his family in the Chicago area, and his grandparents in Chattanooga, will be taking little suburban boy out into the wilderness hiking, learning directions, learning to read maps, learning the “2D” representation, etc., all with not only the hopes of a small prize, but with the altruistic idea of leaving something for someone else who will visit it in the future. What a GREAT educational experience (and relatively free since Grandma is buying the GPS). Grandma ended up not buying it – I did. And who’s to say I won’t enjoy it right along with him. I’m outside in the wilderness, with a little technological help, hoping to find a well placed cache that has a significant meaning for the indivdual that placed it.
Point? So many things in life have no point to some and a great meaning to others. Me, I watch the Superbowl only for the commercials, have never sat through an entire World Series or NBA championship, and can’t see why anyone would smack a little white ball with a club around a golf course. But I do enjoy camping, hiking, rafting, and technology. The glorious thing about our civilization is for those who find and interest, there is usually and avenue to pursue that interest – even though to others, there may be no point.
Another thread post of meaning occurred when Sluggo started the thread WHY does Geocaching “Turn-You-On”? In it, he asked: What is it about this game (activity/sport/hobby/ad nauseum) that is soooo addictive? I mean, really, some psychiatry major could probably base a Master’s thesis or a PhD dissertation on the addictive attributes of geocaching. My wife and I make a lot of references to Defending the Caveman in our lives to help us understand each others’ thought process. That enters in to my response, of which I’m particularly proud:
My wife and I think there’s definitely anthropological elements to the draw of caching as well. “Caveman go into wilderness and hunt scary box in woods. Use magic talisman to help find it. Beat chest loudly and roar when it is found. Go home and brag about conquest.” While not really that simplistic or even that gender specific, there is something intriguing about going out and finding a box in the wilderness that plays to my instinctive curiosity. In our agrarian society, we don’t get much chance to go out, hunt and conquer anymore.
As mentioned in previous posts, the \”Santa Clause Effect\” plays heavily, but depending on the cache placers, there are other forces at work on the hiding side. I for one enjoy giving a mental challenge to the cache finders. Another cacher in my area plants caches extremely well in extremely populated locations, making it very tricky to retrieve and rehide the cache discretely.
Every cache hidden is unique in its location – and what motivates the cachers to place at this particular location is just as intriguing as the caches themselves. It\’s also a great surprise seeing what other people leave as trade trinkets. It gives us a little window into the lives of the people that have been here before.