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WELCOME TO THIRSTY THURSDAY!!

Bundle up, sit back, and stay warm.





This year marks my third year of hunting with my son Levi. The past three years have been fun, but not very profitable for our freezer. If you'll remember last year at this time I had just had emergency eye surgery and I was recovering and wearing an eye patch. Since the surgery was right after Thanksgiving I was not allowed to hunt last year until the very end of the season, and that was only for one day. It was not my kind of year.

This year would be different though. As usual we spent Thanksgiving day with my in-laws and we had a great time. It was also when I set up our deer blinds that we would be hunting out of come opening day. My son Carl would be hunting by himself and Levi would be hunting with me. Levi was actually helping me along as I have had a cataract creep up that is starting to mess with my left eye. Maybe one year I won't have any eye problems for hunting season.

We made it to our blind before it got too light out and we got all set up. I prepared for the cold day by putting my orange bibs on to keep me warm. We both had our hand warmers going to keep the chill off of our hands. We were set.

Well we did not see any deer for quit some time. Around 9:15 I decided to put my sunglasses on, which help take the glare off, and they allow me to see better. Then at 9:25 I spotted a deer to our left. I looked at Levi and noticed he had drifted off to slumber land. I poked him, but not through Facebook, and told him there was a deer to our left. He sat up and said he saw it and that it was a buck.

Now Levi is about to turn 15 so a legal buck for him only has to have antlers that are three inches long or longer. I could not see the buck and I asked him if he could still see it. He said yes. I then asked him if he had a clear shot and he said he did. I then told him to go ahead and take the shot. BANG!! went his 30-30 rifle. I saw the deer run and stop a short distance away, but then it ducked out of sight. He said it appeared to be a 5 point buck, but he wasn't totally sure.

He then said there were more deer coming from the same direction and I looked, but could not make out if they were all doe or not. He said they were doe. That kind of blew it for me since you can't shoot doe right now; that opens this Saturday. We waited for a few minutes and then I told him to get out of the blind and I would get out too. I had him stand right in front of the blind and I started walking toward where he had shot. I was quite a ways away when I looked back and saw he was motioning me to the right.

I did not see any signs that he had hit the deer so I started walking in the direction he was pointing to. As I got closer to a steep wooded area I heard a loud snort and when I looked I saw a buck jump up and try to run. Well it did not run very far before going down again. I realized then that he had done it. All those years of target practicing at the shooting range had paid off. This was his first deer ever.

As I walked toward the deer I yelled at Levi to get down here with me. It was then that I realized just how nice of a deer it really was. Levi was wrong. It was not a 5 point buck. It had 8 points and just happened to be one of the largest deer that has ever been taken on our property. Finally, meat for our freezer, which is most important, and a nice trophy for well deserved young man.





We brought the deer to Grandma's and Grandpa's and then went to finish out the day. We did not see any more deer, but we still had a great day. Seeing how happy he was really made my day. I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to hunt with all of my children. It has given us time in God's woods and allowed us to see many things He has created. I'm also thankful that when it came down to it Levi was able to make a clean shot that was a little over 100 yards. The deer weighed 154 lbs, has a 17 inch antler spread, and will put lots of meat in our freezer.

Thanks Levi, you have made your dad proud and you are turning out to be one fine young man. Okay Carl, now it's your turn.

It is my opinion that Geocaching has yet to see its full potential. In the 12 years of its existence it has become a favored past time of millions of people worldwide however, if its growth rate continues, it will explode in the next five to seven years. If you talk to some of the cachers who started in the beginning, they will gladly tell you how the game has changed. From ammo cans to nanos and letterboxes to logbooks, they just don’t play the game the way they use to. And guess what? 12 years from now it will be different from today let alone 20 or 30 years in the future.


Join me now as we look into the digital log book of a Regular Geocache hidden as “Zelton” GC23000IGH623DF50001A entered by a geocacher named “Melbrain” in the summer of 2041.

There is much tradition that goes along with Pennsylvania deer season - tales of hunts past, stories about friends and family that have gone on before us, dreaming of the elusive whitetail buck and talking strategy to get one golden opportunity, going off to the Commonwealth's "Big Woods" along our Northern Tier to hunting camps as comforting as home...

When I go to hunting camp back in Elk County, one of our traditions is the Sunday night meal, that last meal before the opening day of deer season.  This year I finally photo documented it...

The Boy Scout motto is: Be Prepared.  I was never a boyscout, but as a system administrator and geocacher I take that motto to heart.  In my experience one is well served to put this to practice when one is on the hunt for a geocache.  You never know what situation you find yourself in, so it really does help to Be Prepared.

It happens to the best of us.  You set out, in pursuit of the cache, oh so confident in your caching abilities.  No sweating this one.  Everyone who has posted a log said it was a piece of cake.  "I walked right up to it!"  Everything is hunky-dory.  You get to ground zero and immediately spy that ever-familiar suspicious pile of rocks.  It's not there.  Maybe it's hanging in that tree over there.  Nope, no dice.  Where the heck could it be?  Ah, that log over there looks as if it's been placed there on purpose.  You turn it over, only to find a colony of freaky looking bugs.  What you thought would be a quick cache and dash has now consumed the last 45 minutes of your life, and there is no sign of a cache anywhere. Maybe the coordinates were off.   Maybe it's gone.  Maybe you suck at geocaching.

Flustered at your failed attempt at geocaching bliss, you put your tail between your legs and move on to the next cache.  Surely, that 1.5/1.5 rated cache down the street will be easy.  As with the previous cache, you just can't seem to find it.  What's the deal?  Two DNF's in a row?  How could this be?  Maybe I'll get the next one.  You move on down the line.  Rinse and repeat- no luck there.  Surely, there must be a muggle out there, stealing these caches, in anticipation of my arrival.  Perhaps these cache owners have no clue where they're doing.  In any event, you give up.  You're never going to find another cache again.  Your hobby, the escape from the drab and monotonous which is everyday life, is doomed!  You're in a bonafide caching slump!

Doesn't it just make you want to cry?

Does any of this sound familiar?  I bet at least some if it does.  I had an experience very similar to this over the summer.  I went through a period of a week or so where I couldn't find a cache to save my life.  City park, nature trail, shopping center parking lot, it just didn't matter.  No matter where the cache was, or how easy a find everyone claimed it to be, I couldn't find a cache to save my life.  I wasn't really doing anything out of the ordinary.  My search methods were the same.  The caches I sought out were within the difficulty and terrain I usually go for, given the constraints of work and home life.  Sorry, Milli Vanilli, I can't blame it on the rain.  The weather at the time was gorgeous.

No cache for you today!

I've written this caching slump off to karma.  Little did I know it at the time, but I was about to find A LOT of caches in a short period of time.  A lot of good caches.  A lot of GREAT caches!  Someone, somewhere, was playing Even Steven.  So, the next time you find yourself out there in DNF purgatory, don't fret.  You WILL find another cache.  You've got great caching skills!

WELCOME TO THANKSGIVING THURSDAY!!

Today is a very special day for us and that is because our daughter Katy, and son Carl, have returned from college.

Our youngest son, Levi, has been home with us and our house has never been so quite. My two oldest boys, Paul and Sean, have been out on their own for quite some time now and we do get to see them every now and then. So today the five of us will be spending the day with my wife's parents and her brother and his family to celebrate Thanksgiving.

As many of you know today is Thanksgiving, and I thought I'd share a Thanksgiving skit with you that I wrote for our puppet team (Countryside Puppets) since we normally perform it around this time of the year.

I'll introduce the puppets to you so you have a better idea of who they are.

                                         Martha

                                 Roger

                                 John and Jenny

                                 The kids



Martha:  Roger, Roger!

Roger:   Yes Martha.

Martha:  Could you come in here and help me?

Roger:   Yeah, I'll be right there.

Martha:  Roger, Roger!!

Roger:   What Martha?

Martha:  Are you going to come help me?

Roger:   But I'm watching the football game. (Football game sounds)

Martha:  It's just that I could really use your help in the kitchen.

(Roger enters the kitchen wearing his TV headset; football sounds are muffled)

Roger:   I know Martha, I'm sorry. Here I am.

Martha:  Thank you. Now I need some help getting some of the food ready for today. (Martha lifts her head up from her work.) Roger, get those things off of your head! It's almost noon and John and Jenny and the kids will be here soon.

Roger:   Oh, alright. But why do they have to come to our house for Thanksgiving? There will be kids running around, loud noises, and toys everywhere.

Martha:  Now Roger, you know we don't see the kids very often, besides you should be more thankful that they do come and visit us. Some folks don't eat together as families anymore, let alone getting together for the holidays. By the way, did you ever thank John for that big screen TV he got for you? You know the one you're watching the game on.

Roger:   Oh, I guess I forgot to tell him thanks. It sure was nice of him to buy that for me for my birthday last month.

Martha:  And how about what the kids got you?

Roger:   Oh yeah, more neck ties. I really needed those. With what the Pastor has been speaking on lately I guess I should be more thankful, especially at thanksgiving time. I almost forgot that verse he talked about last Sunday. You know the one that goes something like "giving thanks... um, giving thanks...

Martha:  You mean "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Roger:   Yeah, that's the one. Boy, it says to give thanks always, and for all things. I guess that means anytime, and for anything.

Martha:  It does Roger. Hey, were those car doors I heard?

Roger:   I think you're right.

(Door opens with loud beep, beep, sounds coming in.)

Kids:    " Grandpa, Grandma, we love you and miss you."

Roger:   Me... (Interrupted by Jenny.)

Jenny:   Whoa, watch out. There's a little one coming through.

Roger:   Me too, kids. Thanks for coming over today. I really missed you.

John:     Hi Dad.

Roger:   Hi son. Hey, I don't think I ever said thanks for the TV you bought for me, and I want to say it now. THANKS! It has been an awesome gift. Come on in and let's watch the rest of the game until it's time to eat.

(Lots of laughter and kid sounds.)

John:   What was that Dad? I couldn't hear you because of all the noise.

Roger:  I said...

Martha:  (Interrupting) Roger, watch out for that...

(Lots of commotion)

Martha:  ...toy.

Roger:   Oh well. Here we go again.


Well I hope you enjoyed that little skit about Thanksgiving. I know the kids really like it.

I do want to say a little bit about what Thanksgiving really means. Did you know that thanksgiving is really two words in one? It is. Although many people think it's just a time to get together and watch football games and eat food, which it can be, there really is much more to it.

The first part of the word is "Thanks". This means to be thankful for something. Like food, family, fellowship, and friends. (I love to illiterate.) We can be thankful for many things that we have. I personally am thankful for each day I have to live.

The second word is "Giving". This means we are to be giving to others. One year our church collected food to give to others who normally wouldn't have had a nice thanksgiving. What about you? What was the last thing you gave to someone who was in need?

As you gather with family and friends today remember to be thankful for all that you have. And, think of some way, or something, you can give to others. Your expression of love can change a life forever.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all my fellow cachers and friends.

Running on the treadmill is boring.  To make it a bit less cumbersome, our treadmill is plopped firmly in front of the TV.  So while trotting away the other day, I had some VH1 Classic cranking.  Fun stuff - they were playing all the cool videos from the 1980s.  (I could run all day with Eddie on guitar, so keep the Van Halen coming, VH1…)  All was fine and well until the kids decided they wanted to watch one of their shows.  I was ready to balk, but they had earned it.  Fortunately they picked one of the good ones.  Some of these kids’ shows are flat-out stupid.  While I was coming up with a list of shows I’d like to ban from our television, it got me to thinking that some of these characters would make pretty good geocachers.  Conversely, others wouldn’t have a prayer.  So I present to you the following lists…