Hide In Plain Sight

It’s been almost two months since we’ve been out hunting, and on an overcast summer day we found 10. I need a trip to cooler country to grab some

We grabbed 24 today as part of what is referred to a “Geo-Art” – a placement of numerous containers that when viewed on a map make some sort of symbol or a recognizable character. IN this case it was a $ symbol in the desert made up of 51 caches. We ran into two teams out there who grabbed all of them. We’ll get the remainder another day

My daughter Nikki got married Friday evening and a splendid time was had by all. Adam is a great guy and we love his family and how they’ve taken Nikki into their hearts. I’ll post some pix soon

As I’ve noted before, some of the folks hiding containers are so creative that when you discover what they’ve done, one can only smile. Such was the hide called “Dark Matter“. Two thumbs up to the folks who hid it.

Sharon, my nephew Phil who moved here at Christmas, Fergie and I took about a 2 mile walk through some desert washes and found 22 caches as we explored part of the desert we’ve never seen. Fergie discovered that cholla is not fun to encounter and pulling the barbs out of her paws and fur was a challenge. Some of the homes along the wash are amazing – serious custom designs for serious money. All in all, a good way to spend the morning.

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Our daughter Gillian gave birth to our second grandchild this morning – Beckett Aaron Smith was born at 5:09 pm MST weighing in at 6 lbs 11 oz and 21″. Mother and son are doing great.

And here is the exact location where he was born! Yes, I am a nerd.
N 33° 34.707′
W 111° 53.104′

This was a crazy and busy year. Between Gillian pregnant with her 2nd son, Nikki getting engaged, Sharon opening another store, and my own craziness, I didn’t get a lot of geocaches. Hopefully I’ll be able to get out more in 2013, get over 1500, and, travel permitting, get some additional States, and possibly even some in Canada. I want to thank all the local geocachers, especially those in North Scottsdale for hiding numerous caches which I had the pleasure to discover.

I was exposed to Brubeck’s music in my youth. My father had a great collection of contemporary jazz artists from the 40s, 50s and 60s. Of course the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Time Out was one in the collection and of course Take Five was the most famous of the group’s songs. To this day it still sounds great. RIP Dave – you join Paul and Joe to play on for eternity. Eugene is still with us.

Here is a version of Take Five during a 1964 session in Belgium

My youngest daughter is 25 and getting married in March. Today was her bridal shower held out at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix. It was a gorgeous day for the party. My mother flew in from Florida. All Nikki’s girlfriends were there including one, Caitlin, who we have known since she and Nikki were 2. Three women were there who have been our friends for over 30 years, two of whom came in from California. Finally an old family friend who I’ve known for over 40 years and who, with his amazing wife, live in Tucson and drove up for the day. Jerry and I had to leave the event and just spend some time together. When we returned we located a cache on the Farm’s grounds! It was great seeing everyone and with Gillian pregnant with our 2nd grandson, it is very evident that life is short and one must appreciate the little things – family and friends.

*Hat TIp to the amazing songwriter Al Stewart

Once again another Thanksgiving, and once again another replay of the best Thanksgiving tribute from WKRP in Cincinnati, and specifically the episode “Turkeys Away”. Without a doubt, the funniest episode of the funniest sitcom of all time. It doesn’t matter how many times I watch it, I still laugh out loud as Les Nessman broadcasts the event (“Oh, the horror, the horror. They are hitting the ground like sacks of wet cement!”), only to be topped by Arthur Carlson’s assertion -“As God is my witness I thought turkeys could fly”.