Dereliction Of Duty

I was talking to someone yesterday who said something that’s been kicking around the back of my head for a long time: Travis County has a lot of caches (over 2,500, if you must know), but not enough of them are truly quality caches. It may be a little hyperbolic to say that there’s a cache every 528 feet, but there sure are a lot of LPCs and micros in trees all over the place, and not enough ammo cans, painted buckets, or interesting puzzle caches. Don’t get me wrong: I respect many of the hides out there and their themes. There are some sizable Geoarts in the area. One person has devoted a series to Texas counties that only exist in literature and film. Lord British hasn’t lived here for a very long time, and he still ensures that the Necropolis is maintained. But there are a lot of uninspiring hides out there.

There was a time when I fancied that I might bring something more interesting to the game board than just a camo-taped pill bottle under a rock (which, ironically, happens to be my most discovered cache). The more I have worked on traveling and writing, the more I have shied away from hiding. I have only hidden one cache in the last two years, and that was in another county. Heck, I barely even have Events that often. I can do better. I need to do better. How does one keep up the spark over a long period? Or help ignite the spark in others? How does someone new get drawn in if not with an interesting find? I won’t say that I am the only person guilty of this. I think the people hiding the most have to generate the most caches and, consequently, don’t make as many inspired hides as they could. I also feel that some hiders, catering to those who are already experienced, lean a little too far into the “challenging hide” aspect and not the “clever and fun hide” aspect.

I can’t guarantee that I can change it at all (I can almost guarantee that I can’t change it single-handedly), but I’m thinking that maybe it’s time to start doing my part again. I can’t expect great hides out there if I’m not putting some out there myself, can I? Now, this may be just a bit of random musing, something I have considered and will forget about in due time. Then again, I’m writing it down, so maybe—just maybe—I won’t forget.