geocaching, goslings, tadpoles & a few of my favourite things

On a day that promises to be another scorcher, the deer flies are happy, the deer may not be.

The turkey jumped out at me from the bush. I had spotted a buck, and was following its path (without much hope, I might add) and serendipity...the turkey leaped out from the brush into camera focus. I never seem to capture what it is I prey for!

Depending where you are, the mosquitoes are merciless in our deep bush.

Yesterday, I did my first geocache.

What is Geocaching?

Jan 10, 2009 ... Geocaching is an outdoor activity where people try to find hidden containers using only latitude and longitude along with searching techniques. A handheld GPS receiver is used to navigate from any place on Earth to the hidden container.

Mind you, I haven't had the $$$ to buy a GPS yet, but found the site using the map location, and knowing what I know about our lake!

Back home, I watch the goslings diving for food. What a splash!The dear little things are eating anything that moves: bugs on water plants, and greenery.
What I love is that one move from mom and they all huddle beside her, and then follow in a straightish line!

Down at the frog pond, the bullfrog tadpoles are quite large, with back legs growing. The Spring Peeper tadpoles are so tiny - about the size of one of the bullfrog tadpoles legs! You can see the little black spot bottom centre!

The smaller frogs, green, are nearly ready to breathe air. This is a photo as I passed it to check out the frog pond, and when I came back...

Life is full of small and big miracles.

Geocaching

I like looking intelligent to my very intelligent children. To that end I keep up on technological inventions, and try to keep up with their music finds!

When I think of technology in my lifetime, its inventions pertaining to daily life are increasing exponentially. My grandmother used a horse and buggy. My mother: used the streetcar and then subway to get to work. When we look at our leisure hours, I think we are learning the importance of it! My children take my granddaughter camping. They cut down their Xmas tree. They run their car on cooking oil. But I digress!

As I sit by the lake, typing on my laptop, using my wirless Internet, watching kids go by screaming on tubes, and young studs showing off their manlihood by come clever waterski stunts, I think of the changes in my life.

Through my blog I met Yogi! No, not the bear, the guy! The 'crusty' one, apparently, although I haven't met that side of him! He was blogging about geocaching. What a great idea!
I listened to a podcast, while having a date with Mr. Insomnia, and it was all about this great past time. HowStuffWorks.com is a great podcast. You can search, and I did, all about geocaching. The history of it is interesting. The military used GPS, and now anyone with a personal navigational disorder can benefit, as well as play along. There is great stuff you can order, and a great network of fans.

At its most basic level, geocaching is a game where players use GPS receivers to track down a container, or cache. Caches may contain any number of small items, or they may only contain a logbook for players to sign to mark their find.

This is a great idea. You go on-line to find the coordinates, and take a great trip! Some have a logbook where you record your visit. Others involve 'stuff'. You find the cache, you take what you find and leave another treasure for those who come after you. The howstuffworks.com dude thought Santana CDs, but I wonder!

In other situations involving going to another place, this axiom applies:

Take only photos, leave only foot prints.

But in this case they encourage you to claim a prize. The prize may be the sheer thrill of navigating as in days of old, just getting there was the prize!

Check out the Ontario Geocaching Org.

Adventures in Geocaching
This is a partial list of the Geocaching blogs and blog related sites that were submitted to me through email or the Groundspeak.com forum topic,...

Geocaching Blog Directory
Extensive links to the world of geocaching. Beginners and avid fans of the sport will find useful and entertaining information on this blog. ...