The time is upon us again! Last night, I attended a GIFF 2025 Event, because of course I did! A little over a dozen of us gathered at an event center in Pflugerville to use their meeting room with big television to see the bleeding edge of Geocaching media, short films from Japan, South Africa, Canada, and (of course) the United States. Our host was kind enough to provide a list of the films so we could make notes, record trackables, and better make our voting choices. We even made a few jokes because that’s what you do at a private movie screening with friends. I will not say who I voted for so as not to put my thumb on the scale in any way (he said as if his scribblings had the power to move a segment of people). As a sidenote, logging the Event made me hit day 2700, but that’s not what was on my mind.
Many years ago, long before I finished Texas and ventured out into other states, I wanted to do a GIFF entry. I thought it would only really work as a new cacher, and would require a number of other local cachers to do well. I imagined playing a muggle who saw a cacher in their caching panoply doing something and approached them (I actually had a certain local in mind for the part). I would approach the cacher and ask them “What are you doing?” They would respond “Have you ever heard of Geocaching?” There would begin a montage wherein the muggle would find simple caches, little by little getting more and more difficult (or terrain-y if that was called for). In a perfect, world, the montage would progress through all 81 combinations, but I quickly realized that I could probably only show half because of time constraints. As the finds went forward, you would see the muggle sometimes along, sometimes with other local cachers, with a bag, then a hat, a jacket, maybe patches. The muggle’s tools would grow to extending magnets and mirrors, poles, and ladders. Obviously, their experience and accomplishment would grow and their outward appearance would reflect that until, at the end, while grabbing a cache, the muggle, now a cacher in caching panoply, would be approached by a stranger who would ask “What are you doing?” The muggle would take on a momentary smirk of realization and respond “Have you ever heard of Geocaching?” The circle would be complete. Obviously, I never made this film. I talked to another cacher about making a film together, but their vision was vastly different than mine (they wanted something comedic involving superheroes). I didn’t do it on my own because I have limited abilities relating to film and sound and didn’t want to take up a new hobby/skill set (I mean, I was new to caching and writing almost as much as I do now). But in the back of my head, I think about what could have been. I could find a younger or newer cacher to take the lead role (I don’t think I would be believed in the role at this point), but that smacks of effort that I’m not capable of putting into the idea at the best of times. Therefore, it resides in the box in my brain where I put all the ideas I’d once though I’d like to do. I guess I’ll just have to go find a cache to salve the pain of that old regret.
Geocaching While Black 