I've been caching for 5 years now, (doesn't seem that long ago that I found my first cache), and the thrill of the search isn't as strong as it once was.What is still there is the love of the drive to the cache location, the walk to the cache along some forested path or along the edge of a hidden stretch of seawall along Burrard Inlet, or a gravel path along the wide open expanse of a dyke running along a river's edge which offers a panoramic vista that surrounds us.
However, the real FUN and THRILL of the hunt can only be seen through a child's eyes. Recently I've been given the privilege of sharing that long lost feeling with a very young lady I know named Janelle. She is all of 8 years old, wide eyed and excited as can be to go out and find the treasures that only special people know about.
Her mom and I met at a couple of local caches just to give her a taste of what it's like to look for hidden treasures in the woods. And darned if it wasn't a good thing we did, as she found a well hidden cache that this veteran cacher was having trouble finding.
Her mom and dad do not have a GPS yet, but that doesn't stop Janelle from wanting to go out to find more. As a way of saying "thanks" to her for showing me what's it's like to feel the intensity of a fun day that only a child can, I placed a cache near her house for her to be the FTF on, as well as for her to maintain. Janelle's FTF prize was a small keychain flashlight for checking those dark crevasses in the forest, as well as a small note book for keeping track of her cache notes while she is on the trail. The ownership of the cache I hope will instill a feeling of being a guardian of treasures for another people to enjoy; a way for her to have fun by way of allowing others to have fun finding her cache.
The cache is named "Janelle's Cache" GC1YR1Z located in Coquitlam BC not far from the Coquitlam Centre Shopping Mall. If you have a chance, stop by, find the cache, and take a minute to remember how exciting everything was when you were a child. Those moments are long gone for us adults; we can only reclaim fleeting glimpses of them when we look through the eyes of a child.
