hiding in plain sight.

So, Sunday was the second time i've done it.

The 'it', here, being...

::looks around suspiciously::

... geocaching.


Now, i'm sure this is no big secret, but i'd sure like to pretend that it is, and i'd definitely like to keep it that way if possible. (Posting about it to an almost infinite public can only bring this about, correct?)

So basically you log on to the website. You type in your zip code, to find a cache near you. If you have a GPS device (i'm workin' on that), you can download the coordinates, and off you go. If you do not have a GPS device, it is somewhat trickier but by no means impossible. The coordinates listed can be found easily on a Google Earth map. Although, i should point out here that the first cache i found was clued only with words and vague locations, so, no coordinates were used; but the second one was right on the money, coordinates-wise. After i head out to get #3 i will experience more about how truly accurate this method is. Mostly, i do not have the money to be spending on electronics right now, especially one that is this frivolous. If i had a cell phone, it would be easier (you can get GPS capability these days), but i do not and that, my friends, is that.

i heard about this random activity while watching a fairly terrible movie, and my zeal was undeniable. i couldn't wait to get out and find stuff! Stuff that other people had also found. i know: exciting, right? Boy, howdy! What could be more interesting than strangers' signatures and lots of tiny, random flotsam left behind?

To be honest: not much. The thrill i felt when i found the first one was palpable. Feeling like a spy on a top-secret mission, i flipped through the log of names from the past (it had been there since 2005!), and sorted through the little bits and pieces left behind: a wee Hello Kitty eraser, a wooden cross, a quarter, a small compass... The box itself (a camouflaged Altoids tin) had been magnetized to the underside of a phone company box, and apparently had been discovered by a worker: inside was an AT&T business card scrawled with the message: have fun, guys. Well shucks, dude– i am! Thanks!

If you take something out, you are supposed to replace it with something of equal or greater value (whatever that means, considering what paltries we're dealing with). i took out a wooden 'geocachers' coin (emblazoned with a local church's name and creed), because i saw it as proselytizing (boo, hiss), and left an Andrew Bird button from my bag, because i literally had nothing else that would fit in that tiny tin. We signed our names – with hearts, 'cause we're dorky like that – and closed the box back up. i looked around to make sure no one was watching and placed the box quickly and carefully back where it had been, where it lay in wait to become part of some random, invisible thread connecting the next person in the future to this place, to all of those who'd visited in the past, and to us in that present.

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Surprisingly, i suppose, Nat is supportive of my strange new activity. It gets me out of the house, and even though it doesn't necessarily cost anything, he is actually encouraging me to get a GPS device (or rather, he is using this scenario as more evidence of why we should finally get cell phones; look, i will resist as long as i possibly can, dammit!).

For someone who suffers from anxiety, and specifically social anxiety, getting out of the house can be a monumental hurdle. On days when i don't have to be at work it is, sadly, rare for me to go outside. This is super pathetic, and believe me when i tell you how aware of that fact i am. One shrivels up in self-doubt, wilting and cringing and feeling guilty about it all later. True story.

But this, at least–this–has got me out. Granted, i had Nat come with me both times, but i'm sincerely hoping that will change. It's got me back on my bike, which is excellent because exercise (self-preservation) is scarce when you don't give a crap about yourself. So, yay. This post took a depressing turn, but you know what? i'm alright with that. Looking forward to what i find next.

Until the next bulletin, please enjoy this insanely catchy 'Italian' madness:



(follow-up links to unravel this mysterious goodness can be found here, here, and here. Now let's hope you don't wake up with this song running through your head the next morning, like i did.)