The golden dome of the Seward County Courthouse greeted me as I pulled up to a stop in the town square. I looked upon it with pleasure as the small American flags flapped in the breeze. Nothing tickle’s my fancy quite like a classical courthouse.
The county was named after William Seward, former Governor and Senator from New York, US Secretary of State, advocate for Black emancipation, co-target of the assassination plot that killed Abraham Lincoln, and architect of the so-called “Seward’s Folly” which is better known as the purchase of Alaska. While I have been to another county named after him, it didn’t highlight that connection as openly as does Nebraska even though, as far as I could tell, he had no actual connection to either place. But that wasn’t even the most interesting thing that caught my eye. Seward (the town, not the guy), I learned on the way into town, is “Nebraska’s Official 4th of July City.” The town has celebrated Independence Day almost every year since 1868 and has received both state and federal recognition of its celebrations. I didn’t even know that was a thing that happens. And as I stood on the square on the Third of July, I momentarily thought that my timing was poor to miss the events, but then I remembered Telluride the year before and though better of it. I don’t really have time for this stuff when I’m out on the road. While I could only imagine their fireworks show would be off the proverbial chain, I would be hundreds of miles away by that point. But enough of my slacking! I had things to do!
As fate would have it, a nearby cache was both the easiest in range and the most favorited in the county. Another front yard cache, it was a birdhouse with a perch attached to an internal spring mechanism of some kind. When you moved the perch/switch properly, a panel would open to reveal the cache. It was perfect: cleverly made and just different enough for the cacher on the go. I went ahead and gave it one of my stingily hoarded favorite points and then headed on my way.
I continued onward with a minor sense of dread. I could see thickening clouds growing dark and blotting out the sun. On the one hand, I wouldn’t be dealing with the Spear of Apollo trying to stab me. On the other hand, rain that I had seen in area forecasts seemed far more likely. While I always hope to avoid rain on the road, the God of Meteorology is both active and capricious. All I could do was hope for the best and press on to…
Geocaching While Black 