Geocaching is something new to me that I only recently learned about. My daughter and son-in-law found one when out hiking an easy trail while out camping near a lake last year.

This week, a friend was talking about her husband and that he likes to hunt for geocaches. He has been involved with this hobby for many years. She expressed a bit of frustration when sharing with me that he is a top geocacher. He has found at least 50,000 geocaches! Fifty thousand! That is a lot of time spent outdoors searching for a small box with or without some tiny trinket or toy, as well as a pen or pencil and paper on which to leave a signature, as proof of his discovery.

The geocacher’s wife, said he walks with arm crutches. He has multiple cancers he is fighting. He has had all of the treatments available for his cancers. Now it’s a matter of time. Agent orange. Like covid, it is a thief.

Our patient worries about him out there searching for these geocaches. Alone. She wishes he would spend more time at home doing things that “matter.” I thought about all of the time effort and money he has spent on doing this hobby of searching for boxes with notepads where he has left his signature over 50 thousand times. My guess is, he has had some interesting moments out there by himself or with a buddy hiking in the outdoors, maybe appreciating God’s creations along the way. Journaling or blogging would have been a great place for him to share his ponderings and experiences.

I wonder if his wife ever went with him. I wonder if he every invited her to go along. They could have shared some wonderful moments of conversation, candid photos, and laughing together. Did I mention he is in his 70’s? I bet he has some great stories to tell.