Reading the Fine Print

Before I became “Chick-Fil-Moo”, I worked in a “real job” in an office with great people doing essential work for an important cause. When writing the occasional memo to my co-workers, I took care to cover the details, to answer the “who, what, when, where, why and how” of the topic du jour. Inevitably, there would be someone who wouldn’t really “read-for-content”, who would call or e-mail to ask for the same information that I had just given them in written form. I would think to myself, "how silly...why don't you just READ!?!?"

I’ve chatted with my hubby, co-workers, and friends enough to know this is not unusual. If Rushing While Reading were a felony, many of us would be in the slammer. But hold on! Haven’t we perfected the art of multi-taking? As successful business people and parents, surely it's a prerequisite for success. I, for one, can certainly read-for-content and chew gum at the same time!
Hmmm…

Today the Fairly Odd Family went Geocaching again. We love to go Geocaching together: there's something enticing for each of us. Brian finds the idea of a treasure hunt irresistible. Evan is fond of walking on new trails and in new places. Ed enjoys communing with nature and the great outdoors. And I love the exercise and hiking.

The cache was located nearby in Patapsco Valley State Park. The person who placed the cache also put the relevant details on Geocaching.com, and we printed out the info sheet and took it with us.

I was all about the details, double-checking as I programmed into the GPS coordinates for the parking area, a fishing pond along the route, the suspension bridge near the final destination, and of course the coordinates for the cache location. We tucked a picnic lunch into our backpack, and off to Patapsco we went.

Arriving at the park at noon, and having had a late breakfast, we decided to wait and have our lunch at the cache site. Surely, we'd arrive within the next hour or two. This cache was entitled “Cascade Falls!” which has such a nice ring as a picnic spot. I conjured up mental images of a peaceful picnic next to a tranquil waterfall.

We located the parking lot and the fishing pond without incident. Proudly, we continued onward and upward (literally), frequently consulting our trusty GPS. Arriving at a fork in the path, our GPS told us to veer right. Why would we doubt for a moment? To the right, we enthusiastically veered.

We started up a steep, narrow, winding dirt path. Feeling more like mountaineers than hikers, we kept climbing. After a while, our GPS annoyingly persisted in telling us to turn to the left, but the trail just kept curving to the right. Brian suggested that we bushwack our way to the left. Just plow through the brambles and briars, march on up, and TAKE THAT HILL! Thank goodness cooler heads prevailed. I was sensible enough to wait at least until we found an even narrower, less-traveled, lonesome dirt trail that angled to the left.

We were ravenous long before reaching the cache, and instead of the idyllic picnic spot I envisoned, we chowed down next to a fence bordering some private property while a stray dog begged for some leftover Chick-Fil-Moo nuggets.

I’m not exactly sure how long it was before one of us had the brainstorm to actually read the printout of the “Cascade Falls!” info. It was like a bolt from the blue. Remember in the “Wizard of Oz” when Dorothy discovers that all along, she had the power of the ruby slippers?

Our friendly geocache stasher had been just as generous in her written instructions. “Follow the paved trail northwest…” PAVED trail? Are you kidding me? We’d been crossing streams, and avoiding roots, rocks, lions, tigers, and bears for hours. All along we were supposed to stay on the PAVED trail?
Yep, at that moment in time, Ed and I pled “no contest” to Rushing While Reading and the related offense, Absorbing Only the Details that Seem Interesting at the Moment. The trail back to Kansas had been available to us all along.

Patapsco Valley State Park consists of a mere 14,000 acres. We visited 9412 of them today.

GPS is such incredible technology. It can lead us to almost any set of coordinates. We just needed to fully process that it was guiding us "as the crow flies", an expression for which I have fresh appreciation.
At day's end, as I'm writing now in my comfy air-conditioned room on my sweet little laptop, it all seems a bit surreal. We're all sore, our feet hurt and our muscles are tired, yet after being on the trails for almost six hours, we're feeling great.
Today, we hung together as a family. We actually, eventually, and after contempating-giving-up-several-times, found the cache. We saw more deer than I can count and met some really interesting people, and several friendly and energetic dogs. The boys played on a huge playground made entirely of recycled tires. We all got loads of healthy fresh air and exercise.

And as to the charge of Rushing While Reading? From time to time, it probably gets the best of most of us.

Forget “no contest”. I’m happily guilty as charged.