FTF Spiders, Skeeters, Swamps, and Thorns

Sorry for the delay: I found it rather difficult to put my hands on a flamethrower these days. Who knew? But it also turns out that a cold snap was sufficient to drive the creepy crawlies into hiding. Armed instead with a green light on the checker, and with phenomenal weather, I enjoyed a rather pleasant hike to GZ.

That was the end of the pleasantness. Eric1701 called them “demon-thorns” in his FTF log. I wholeheartedly agree! Ouch. ALL OVER!! I’m not scared of thorns but I think I may now have PPSD (Post-Pokey Stress Disorder). More on that later...

I searched for half an hour without luck. PAF’d Eric. Searched for another half hour after his nudge, thinking I’d even spotted it from the mowed area and then losing sight of whatever “it” was once back on the side where I thought I’d be within reach. PAF’d sydtam; either his memory is better than Eric’s or the container and/or location has changed slightly since then, for Syd led me right to it, in a spot quite different from what Eric described. I spotted it while he was still on the phone. But how the heck do I reach it?! I thanked Syd and let him get back to his life, then set about making my already long arms even longer.

A stick maybe? I found the only one in the whole park without any thorns and attempted to hook or shift the container enough so I could grab it. I succeeded only in pushing it further in. Then, lessons learned in high school geometry kicked in: try another angle, try another approach vector. Eureka! THIS BEAST IS MINE!! FINALLY.

But now the lid is stuck. I remembered reading about that in sydtam’s log and should’ve been mentally prepared but I wasn’t. WHAT?! NO, I WILL NOT GIVE UP THIS CLOSE TO VICTORY!! I whipped out A2ZB79 (feel free to discover) and soon had the blasted thing open. And it was indeed the cache. EUREKA FOR REAL!!!

I signed my name, replaced the cache, and made my way back to the myrthmobile where I learned again the meaning of pain when I applied sanitizer to my PPSD’d hands. As I bellowed, the trees shook, rousing all the birds into flight. If I hadn’t been in agony, I very well could have signed off on every single entry in the Audubon Society’s birding books. But I didn’t die.

I don’t know if gratitude is the right emotion to express for this adventure or not. Just kidding! The story alone is worth a fave point. Thanks, Eyeash. God bless! 2 Corinthians 5:21

~ myrthman, AKA NtN065

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