Hike! Hike! Hike!

I understand that a lot of people spent yesterday evening observing a Superb Owl. I, on the other hand, was taken by a different kind of bird. I needed my cache for the day so I decided to do something I claim I do not do: let a Treasure influence my choice. I hadn’t completed the collection based on EarthCaches so I decided to go to a nearby park for a fairly new one that had been on my radar for a while. I usually avoid them so I don’t have to drive to the ends of the earth on International EarthCache Day, but that single hole in that collection had been staring at me for a while. Once I found parking; a feat unto itself considering it was such a lovely day and everyone wanted to be outside biking, playing baseball, or having their child’s birthday party; I set off onto the hiking paths into the woods. Say what you like about Austin, it’s park system is excellent. As I walked along the path though, I noticed that I would be passing by a Traditional quite a way before I got to the EarthCache. I thought about it for a minute: a cache is a cache is a cache, and I would prefer to save the EarthCache for other things, so why not go get the Traditional that was right there? At the halfway point to the EarthCache, I turned off the trail into the trees. All I knew was that it was probably bird or birdhouse shaped and that it was going to be up somewhere. When I got to GZ, I actually ignored it, thinking it was a marking ribbon of some kind. It was quite a bit lower than I would have expected, so I can excuse myself making that assumption. After a quick 360 turn, I realized that the “marking ribbon” was bird shaped and neither superb nor owl. Inveni, inscripsi, reposui, but it made me think for a minute. Many moons ago, I made a failed foray into 3D printing. I’ve actually learned, thanks to consultations with experts, what my issue may have been, but I was too down on things to try again at the time. Well, I’ve been wondering if I might have it in me to try again. I’ve been thinking obliquely about perhaps buying a kids’ printer (they’re relatively inexpensive) and trying again from scratch. Resin currently has a few too many issues to it for my tastes, but filament might be right up my alley. If the kids’ printer is good enough for my purposes, it might be all I need. If I decide I want to do more complex things, I can always get a better printer. If I find myself dissatisfied again, well, I’ve spent more money on dumber things. But that’s definitely going to have to wait until after Texas Challenge is in the rear-view mirror if it happens at all. Regardless, I had my cache for the day. That’s all that mattered.