To Cache Nation, numbers matter. Smileys tick upward, slowly or at the speed of light, depending on the geodriver. Caching anniversaries, milestones, and FTFs weave into personal identity and achievement across a geocaching planet. Without further ado, today is #100 for Ohlog. YES!!!!!!!
Although thank you seems a bit weak for all we have been through together, we extend our heartfelt appreciation to geo-voyagers who are following this blog and joining us on this journey of discovery, adventure, pondering, and play, across the land we call home. Today we celebrate with a multi-cache.
As we head south, messages from the government, channeled through ODOT, give valuable opportunities for probing the minds of our elected officials. Ideas, anyone?
Returning our minds to ourselves, we contemplate the business of brains, and the push for resilient, productive, and optimistic citizens unbothered by the pains of life. Alongside runs the parallel business of inventing tonics for slackers. Our day promises to hold a 100% effective remedy.
As northern districts morph into downtown, Buckeye red blossoms. This month’s Big 10 Tournament and March Madness mark the third anniversary since all was silenced.
Like sight restored to the blind, each new spring reminds of the bounty of communal gathering, shared food, and babble of voices. A normal Saturday, in the back of the mind, feels like Christmas morning.
Our geotour parks us in a winding bend of the Scioto River, where a 160-acre nest of birds and Two-leggeds shelters under the protection of Audubon Ohio and Columbus Metro Parks.
As the Olentangy merged with the Scioto, and both continued their dance in winding half-circles through downtown, money makers of the 1900s sized up the golden land within the southern bend. They built factories, rail yards, steelworks, warehouses, incineration furnaces, and impound lots. At the turn of the century, industry got up and left the restaurant, leaving behind stacks of old buildings, dried up scraps of storage tanks, and a tablecloth soaked with lead and arsenic.
Mr. Urban, CEO of Grange Insurance, living up to his name, stepped in to take care of his city. For six years he worked with Audubon Ohio and Columbus Metro Parks to raise capital, restoring 160 acres of very sick soil.
Together they designed a living model of a natural space within their city, sustaining the land beneath, and bringing that land within reach of 53 surrounding urban school science programs.
In 2009, the park opened, with the first Audubon Center ever built in a downtown area. A roof covered with plants, and a system of drains, rain gardens and porous surfaces deflect runoff from the Scioto. Bird corridors, nestled in the riverbend, welcome yellow-crowned night herons and 212 other species of birds.
Eight years later, Cache Owner hankpixie dangles the promise of something special with a multi-cache tour of Scioto Audubon. There are four stops ahead to uncover each piece of the puzzle. We. Are. In.
First stop: Invasive Species, aka can you believe how high the river is??? Early spring rains wash wrinkles and sleepy creases clean from a long winter nap. Clouds of morning cream, served with streaming coffee, wink back at us.
How many pictures on that sign? Seven. Don’t lose that number.
Second stop: Heather’s Tree, behind the Nature Center. A white mulberry older than its own recorded history, saved by Heather, who built the nature center around it. What year was it? 2009. Don’t lose that number.
Third stop: Wetlands. Biological diversity doesn’t sound like a viral video. We will have to pause and look. Reeds and cattails shelter millions of tiny eyes peering back at us. Land and water meet and greet through brushy filters.
How many tadpoles on the sign? Two. Don’t lose that number.
Fourth and last: Whittier Peninsula. At geo-zero, short and tall Two-leggeds carry home robin song, redbud bloom, river gush, tree whispers, sun sparkle.
Finders report that the sign is getting smudged. Numbers are disappearing. Our CO tour guide isn’t giving up. Find the unsmudged year when this park was first envisioned and partnered among three key power brokers. 2003. Don’t lose that number.
Cache directions tell us to take our answers to the Park Office, reminiscent of the awesome Geotrails hosted by our Metro Parks each year. Maybe we will run into a Park Ranger.
And that’s one of the nicest Rangers we’ve ever met. Very smart, too. Knows how to give a great clue.
When our four numbers encounter a genuine padlock, the FUN and REWARDING of the description notches up. Considerably.
Before us opens a treasure trove of imagination, determination, and generosity, a worthy tribute to those who maintain the park we have just enjoyed.
Our footprints walk us back to our car.
Fresh air
a simple shared act of hiding and finding
a mustard seed of generosity spread across continents and languages
wordlessly speaking to the tide of addictive greed
write your own story
OH Love Of Geocaching 