You know how it is when you're trying to explain the concept of a blog to the uninitiated? It just seems like such a dorky thing. And for me, there's usually this awkward moment when I admit that I have one. People look at me like I'm nuts, which is no different than usual, really, except that during these times I actually understand the reason for the look. But basically, it's fairly easily explained—an online journal.

Now, try to explain geocaching in five or fewer words. Even the geocaching web site can't do it. The difference with the geocaching explanation is that there are two possible looks. Neither one is really the "you're a weirdo" look, but the "whatever" look is close. You know the one—maybe the person doesn't completly understand the concept, or maybe they understand the concept but they can't comprehend why you'd want to do it.

But the other possible look is great. It's usually one of excitement, with the accompanying "That sounds so cool!" exclamation. And that's how I reacted when I first learned about it on Kalki's and Bente's sites. When J.P. heard that a technological gadget was required to participate, he was all over it. He did the research and acquired a GPS unit within a few weeks.



We found our first two caches in Minnesota last week. We looked for two more, but couldn't find them. J.P. is not one to give up, and he searched and searched. They were both microcaches that were placed by the same person, and one of them was about the size of a silver dollar—we didn't feel too bad about that.

My dad was in the Whatever camp, I think. It's sometimes tough to tell with him. But he and the dogs did accompany us on our second find. Casey and Nellie were on the Excited team until they realized we weren't going to let them off their leashes; then they abandoned our side for the Whatevers.



I carry the camera and J.P. navigates. It works well, because when geo-muggles approach we can pretend we're just there to take pictures of flowers or foliage or dirt. Come to think of it, now I do recall some of those Weirdo looks.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 07, 2005 at 11:13 PM.