Orbiter Dicta

[+GO West]

Obiter dicta

: (oh-bitter dick-tah) n. remarks which are not necessary. Generally, obiter dicta is simply editorializing and extraneous material. Dicta are regarded as of little authority, on account of the manner in which they are delivered; it frequently happening that they are given without much reflection, at the bar, without previous examination.

 

My Friend John Caldwell chose his caching handle with care, tweaked it to reflect something to do with caching (obit became orbit), and then lived by the name. As a lawyer he enjoyed argument and controversy, and when none was at hand, he would not hesitate to start one. But always, he knew his arguments were baseless dicta, eg: “Cachers should be limited to 5 FTF’s” – a classic.

 

John passed away last week. (Please see note). I would like to keep his memory alive with a cache, Orbiter Dicta.

 

The container is one I recovered earlier this week - the final of his multi, "Carolyn Grace's Multi-Cache Mania," named for his daughter Carolyn, age 7. I was tempted to leave it as found and re-establish the hide; unfortunately, other newer caches have moved into the area. I have moved the cache a few hundred feet to the East.

 

Please give it a try next time you visit Carkeek park. John brought Carolyn here often, and it was one of their favorite parks.

[+Ambrosia]

I'm sorry to hear about your friend. Thank you so much for placing a memorial cache for him! Those are the best.

[+grossi]

John's antics always had me laughing. I'm sorry that my newer caches prevented hiding his memorial cache in the same final location of Carolyn Grace's Multi; I remember how much fun I had finding that one. Most of all, I'm sorry for his early and unexpected death, and the fact that I never had a chance to meet him.

[+GO West]

^ No problem about the conflicting hides. Funny thing about John's cache is that it was still there, a year after it had been shut down. The small path where it was hidden clearly gets more traffic now, but no one stumbled upon it.

 

I hope the new hide stays as protected.

[+Wienerdog]

Interesting about the “Carolyn Grace's Multi-Cache Mania” container being used for the new cache. After thinking about it for a bit it finally clicked… Wienerdog was the first finder on that cache. That ‘easy’ find turned into frantic run all over the north end looking for waypoints while still trying to make it to work by 7AM! It started out easy enough but WP2 featured an encounter with “Psycho Goose” at the Ronald Bog park and the final WP, in a virgin field of Ivy under heavy tree cover, was a major challange. It was a very exciting morning on that run two years ago. The ‘Orbiter Dicta’ name and his caches were also very familiar to us and it would be fun to relate some interesting meetings with him but we never really met him or had a chance to shoot the breeze with him. Our sympathy to his family and our thanks to you for the memorial cache idea and we hope it has a long run.

Wienerdog

[+evergreenhiker!]

I'm sorry to hear about O.D. I had some email contact with him in the past and remember doing his fine caches. I'll have to get down and do the memorial cache.