Notes from Schweitzer's Shadow

I don't know if my title today is accurate in any way, but it sounded good.

Plus, Schweitzer's looking mighty pretty up there this morning. 

It's the Sunday before Christmas, and all through the house, things are fairly calm.

The newspapers came a little later than usual today so I went for a walk on top of the snow around the hay field.

It's cold enough but not too cold.  Snow has become crusted hard enough to support a human's weight.

I always enjoy the days when we can set off any direction in any field and enjoy a free walk, so to speak.

No sinking in, no water below the snow, just a solid surface and a clear pathway for 360 degrees and as far as you want to go, except for fences and trees.

I also love days when the north wind is blowing against my face, not cutting it with ferocity but simply stroking it and providing a sense of winter solitude amidst the forces of nature. 

Did that make sense?  

I don't know, but it probably does make sense to say that today is a good day.

After my walk, the papers were in the box.  

Bill and I sat quietly reading stories of the day.  Of course, one of my favorites was about the ZAGS wonderful victory yesterday over ninth-ranked Baylor.  I actually cried tears of joy over that one cuz our ZAGS are back!

Doug Clark's column about tooting his trumpet in the EWU makeshift band surely got Bill's attention.

And, Bill actually asked for the sports section when I read to him a few paragraphs from the impressive  back-page feature about geocaching http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/dec/19/on-the-trail-with-gps/

The feature explains the sport, including the general guidelines and focuses on a lady from Spokane who sells geocaching products and teaches others about the sport.  

She said that, despite the economy, her business increased by 80 percent this past year.  That's the beauty of geocaching, and I tell folks all the time.  It's a wonderful, relatively inexpensive and educational activity for young and old.

Geocachers get out of the house, discover places they've never visited, learn about the area and find camaraderie with other geocachers.

I was thinking earlier this morning while on my walk about how geocaching has so positively affected our family---from Annie working for the company to all the friends we've met because of the sport and all the places we've gone on the hunt for the hidden treasure.

And, while I was reflecting, another recurring thought came to mind:  how one person makes a difference.

My friend Alan, whose wife Pam Eimers used to teach with me, first told me about geocaching about six years ago.

He lives in California, and, of course, trends perennially used to hit California before they'd ever find their way to Idaho.  (I think that may have changed, thanks to wider Internet access).

Anyway, Alan told me at the time that he had incorporated a geocaching adventure into his son's birthday celebration.

I asked him to explain the sport and immediately thought, "That's something Bill would like."  

We may have eventually learned about it through other means, but Alan lit the fuse for our current family passion. And, to say it has exploded (both the sport and our passion) would be an understatement.

So, if you're out there, looking for a nice family Christmas gift which will give you hours, weeks, months and years of adventure, check out the Spokesman article or go visit www.geocaching.com.  

If you decide to partake, you can take the sport anywhere in the world and add to the five million or so who have discovered "the fastest growing sport you've never heard of." 

Got a busy day ahead, purchasing a few more gifts, decorating some cookies and maybe finishing my outdoor light display.  

On the latter, the light show is pretty lame right now, so I'm hoping to have a proper display by the time Annie arrives home on Christmas Eve.

Happy Sunday to all, and Happy Birthday, Florine.