The Thief Of Hopes

Several days back, my car was broken into. Well, it wasn’t exactly “broken” into. It looks like I forgot to lock my door, and someone opportunistically opened it at an inconvenient time of the morning. Other than several dollars in change missing and a lot of things tossed around, there was no real damage other than annoyance. At least, so I thought. A couple of days ago, the true cost was revealed: they stole my caching bag. That, in and of itself, is a loss. It contained my GPS, a UV flashlight, portable chargers and cables, and various and sundry tools collected over the years. But, again, little more than annoyance and money. The real loss? My bag of trackables. I was carrying about a dozen in a small bag within my larger bag. Pictured above is the only survivor, having been too big for my smaller trackable bag.

Every trackable is more than just a toy. It’s a hope sent out into the world. It’s a chance to bring a little joy, a laugh, or some wonder into someone’s life, whether it’s the finder’s or the owner’s. Sending off a number of them myself and watching each one disappear has been a little sad. Remember the ones my daughters chose? My younger daughter’s sleeping Kirby has been knocking around Germany for a couple of years before recently escaping to the Netherlands. Unfortunately, my older daughter’s bear ring made it to Hawaii and London but disappeared at an Event in California. Remember my Chinese Classics trackables? The most recent one was logged almost two years ago. One was last seen in a now archived cache. With the exceptions of Kirby and the trackables I specifically keep with me (my nametag, my blue shirt, and my trusty and long-traveled umbrella), all mine have vanished, most likely into the closets of now former cachers. I can only imagine that the trackables stolen from me each has an owner who will be equally sad to learn that their little bit of hope has been snuffed out.

I can get more stuff. Heck, I’ve already ordered much of what I lost. But I can’t replace the hopes of others. For that, I am truly sad and sorry.