Buried Treasure

I took these photos last year in Indiana. Jilly and I were snooping around off the beaten path when we came across a gigantic old hollow log with mushrooms and moss growing from every nook and cranny.

I looked into one of the openings and saw a military style ammunition can stashed not too far out of view. My first three thoughts were, weed, money and bomb, in that order I think. I searched and found no signs of wiring or other obvious mechanisms that might indicate a booby trap. Using a limb scavenged from the many that littered the forest floor, I poked, prodded, and then scooted the metal container into a position where I could grab it without having to insert any part of my body into what appeared to be excellent snake habitat. Having retrieved the box, Jilly and I discussed the possibilities for a short while until curiosity finally overcame my twenty-first century hypervigilance. I grabbed the latch, gave the lid a pull and !!!! nothing happened.

The ammo can was filled with a strange assortment of unrelated items including a popsicle stick, a postcard, an empty tube of lipstick, a guitar pick, and the list went on. It appeared as if someone had cleaned out their junk drawer and then went through a hell of a lot of trouble to hide the crap in a hollow log deep in the forest. The mystery was solved with the discovery of a small spiral-bound journal containing a list of people from various cities, states, and countries who had found this ammo box by way of GPS. It was a Geocache. I packed everything back into the can and left it as I found it. I later learned that in the Geocache world, I was what they called a “geomuggle.” Had I done harm to the container, its owner would be notified that this hidden trove of treasures had been plundered.

It was interesting but a little disappointing too. I could have used a tall stack of unmarked hundred dollar bills.