Geocaching

by Steve

My son has been stricken with a horrible condition. It just kind of crept up on us. He's developed... his own interests. That's right, his own interests. As in, not the same as mine.

This was not the way I'd pictured it. Lead by example, right? Boys want to be just like their fathers, right? Well, by now he's supposed to be coming home from school and asking me if I want to go for a run. Telling me that he's going upstairs to read for awhile, maybe work on a story he's been thinking about. "Hey Dad, can I help you work on the deck... or the tree house... or check on our on-line chess accounts?" Nope.

Now, I am in no way disappointed in my son. He's a great kid, clever, funny, and into a lot of great stuff. I just miss the "good old days." Back when I couldn't even fix the trap under the sink without him. He needed to be there tapping on the pipe, very carefully, with his red plastic hammer.

It's just one of those cases where he's into his stuff and I'm into mine. It's supposed to happen. So, I've been trying to find a way that we can reconnect. A shared interest that will give us more time together. This year for Christmas, Santa brought us something called a Geomate. It's used for something called Geocaching.

This is not a paid advertisement. It's just me telling you about something that is really freaking awesome.

This may be old news to you, it's been around for some time, but it's totally new to us. There are these things, these containers, hidden all over the place called geocaches. They're everywhere. They contain odd little trinket type items, maybe a log book to sign, you never know. When people hide these geocaches they mark the co ordinance with a GPS and then record it in the geocache web site (www.geocaching.com) This Geomate thing is a GPS with like 10,000 of them programmed into it. So when you turn it on, it points to the closest one, gives you the approximate distance and you go find it.

Man, this is just what we needed. Together, outside, for hours, exploring, with a common goal. It's an actual treasure hunt. And it wasn't just a hit with my son and I. My wife and daughter loved it too. We found our first cache just off this trail that we'd actually been down before, but had no idea that one of these containers was just a few feet away. It was right there tucked into a hole, under a rock with some logs pulled over it. It was actually sort of a rush. It contained a matchbox car and a few wooden coins (which we took) and a log book (which we signed). We left a few beaded necklaces. In two days that was the only one we found, but everyone wants to get back out there as soon as we can. You've got to try this.

So for now, this Geocaching thing is a winner. But his interests are going to change, so are my daughter's. And I'll have to find new ways to connect. But, that's the job right? I can't be a good influence if we're "just not into the same things." I can't be a good example for them if "they're doing their stuff and I'm doing mine." It's always going to take some effort, but that's the job.

Mr. Rules