Memorial Day Weekend...

"Tanks" for Nothing

The following is the log I really wanted to write for the Dunmore MBT geocache. I didn't want to influence others' impressions or cause undue worry, so I'm keeping this off the official record.

  May 30 by Zhanna

Hi, Ron!

I have another adventure to report. It was a beautiful morning for a ride, and Rich and I had been planning to ride to this cache since last weekend, when we unfortunately ran out of time. We met around 9:00 and rode the back streets from Jessup to Dunmore. The temperature was still in the 40s when we left this morning, but the day was warming up nicely by the time we reached Dunmore. Climbing those hills helped me to warm up, too. We reached the coordinates without trouble.

Immediately I felt we were being watched and over Rich's shoulder I spotted a man glaring at us. He stood in front of the tank as if protecting it. Rich asked what he wanted and the man told us to get out. He started into a diatribe about how some people on bikes had ridden through the area yesterday and turned up some stones. We explained that we had walked the bikes in, not ridden them. Then he went into the usual "You don't belong here" nonsense to which Rich responded in kind. We had every right in the world to stand where we stood. We were doing no damage and causing no harm. The man wanted to call the cops. "Go ahead!" Rich told him. "You can even use my phone!" The man wanted no part of that but insisted "Oh, they'll be by - They'll be here!" The man continued muttering on about how "This is a memorial!" and "Respect that flag!" and some pseudo-patriotic garbage. Guess we weren't good enough Americans for him.

This kind of attitude really gets me. Contrary to what this man seems to believe, it is not necessary to be a miserable old veteran in order to be a loyal and true American. He lives in the past and whiles away his time in the present keeping vicious watch over this memorial to people who are dead and gone and can't see his work anyway. His time would be better used, and their memories better served, if he would take the time to educate vistors about why this particular memorial is important to him and to all Americans. Or at the very least, if he would change his attitude and simply approach his neighbors here on earth in a civil manner, he might better represent American ideals. (Any subsequent visitors to the cache may feel free to tell him I said that.)

He stayed watchful at a distance, sweeping, scraping and smoking, while we searched. Rich found the cache almost immediately and, again, I showed absolutely no talent with the micro! I was up and down, in and out, under, over and around and still had nothing to show for it. We took a break for some photos, but even with a clear head and Rich's tiny hint of "Well, you're pretty warm," the frustration still built. Finally I noticed something a little unusual and I realized I'd just found the cache. Still I'd say that, to me at least, it was anything but obvious! Congrats to those who found it right off.

We found a nice spot to sit in the sunshine and sign in. Rich re-hid the cache as we'd found it, and we packed up and got ready to leave. By now our Real American Patriot was standing near his truck. Rich rode over to say a cheerful goodbye and got in return "Go away, I'm busy." Well, gladly. We'd seen enough of his true colors.

Thanks for a very different kind of Sunday morning adventure! The weather was perfect, the ride was exhilarating, and finding the cache was a real challenge (for me, anyway). And that's what's most important.

Zhanna