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Raven02

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I was just looking at another Pocket Query I was going to load into my GPS and I felt I had to say something about it. I am new to Geocaching, have only been at it for a month +/-. But I see alot of caches put into or around cemetaries. I dont understand why this is done. Yes Yes i know about the spirit quests... IT seems to me that these places are where people put their loved ones after they die. How would you like hundreds of people running all over the place where you buried your mother, father, child just to play a game. Are you that hard up to find a decent place to hide a cache? Or is there just a total lack of respect for these places and the people and loved ones buried there? To play a GAME in these places is out of line and disrespectful in my opinion and I for one will NOT go after a cache in a cemetary. Maybe someday you will realize this when you have a loved one buried in one and people are running all over their grave to play a game. If you dont like what I have writen GOOD maybe you will think twice about hiding a cache in a cemetary. Ask youself this .......do you think I am the only one who thinks this way? I AM the one to stand up and say something about it. The people I have met while caching seem very nice and concerned about nature and the environment. The are a special breed apart. I can only hope we come to our senses and stop hiding caches in places like this.

 

I would like to know your opinions for or against.

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First... Welcome to the game! I for one am very happy that you've joined us and that you're having a good time.

 

I'm sorry to hear that you are offended by the placement of caches in cemeteries. I can understand your perspective. There will be different opinions regarding these caches... and that's OK.

 

First - everyone plays the game differently. Some people love micros, others hate them, some only hide multis :huh: and others will never bother to find them. Some folks love cemetary caches, others are along the lines of you. It's all fine. Live and let live.

 

Second - To some cemetaries are sacred ground that should only be visited with the greatest respect. Others have holidays in them to celebrate the happiness of the lives of their lost family members. http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/muertos.html

 

Others enjoy wandering the graves, looking at the old headstones and thinking of the people there. I think that many people who enjoy hiding and finding caches in cemetaries fall into this category. I do not think that they are disrespectful - I think that they are generally the oposite and tread lightly around these special places. Geocaching brings people to unique places, often forgotten places, which frequently are cemetaries. Without a cache, an old cemetary may long be forgotten, or at least not visited as much... I do have close family in a cemetary and can only hope that there is a geocache near her stone, bringing people to visit and remember her. I would rather Gram have visitors than not, geocaching visitor especially - even if it is not me.

 

What I do find disrespectful is your coming and accusing a wonderful group of people a lack of courtesy. I appreciate your concern and am glad that you asked, but please, next time - ask why we do something instead of dressing us down. We deserve that much respect.

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100 years ago it was commonplace to have picnics and re-unions at cemetaries - just check with your local paper.

 

I am sorry you are offended by it. I am not and am quite respectful while hunting caches in and around cemetaries - I tend to look at them as a history lesson and learning opportunity.

 

Not all caches are appropriate but most are.

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First... Welcome to the game! I for one am very happy that you've joined us and that you're having a good time.

 

I'm sorry to hear that you are offended by the placement of caches in cemeteries. I can understand your perspective. There will be different opinions regarding these caches... and that's OK.

 

First - everyone plays the game differently. Some people love micros, others hate them, some only hide multis :huh: and others will never bother to find them. Some folks love cemetary caches, others are along the lines of you. It's all fine. Live and let live.

 

Second - To some cemetaries are sacred ground that should only be visited with the greatest respect. Others have holidays in them to celebrate the happiness of the lives of their lost family members. http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/muertos.html

 

Others enjoy wandering the graves, looking at the old headstones and thinking of the people there. I think that many people who enjoy hiding and finding caches in cemetaries fall into this category. I do not think that they are disrespectful - I think that they are generally the oposite and tread lightly around these special places. Geocaching brings people to unique places, often forgotten places, which frequently are cemetaries. Without a cache, an old cemetary may long be forgotten, or at least not visited as much... I do have close family in a cemetary and can only hope that there is a geocache near her stone, bringing people to visit and remember her. I would rather Gram have visitors than not, geocaching visitor especially - even if it is not me.

 

What I do find disrespectful is your coming and accusing a wonderful group of people a lack of courtesy. I appreciate your concern and am glad that you asked, but please, next time - ask why we do something instead of dressing us down. We deserve that much respect.

 

 

 

I think your wrong period.............there are not there to reflect on the people there, if you believe that I have land for you on the moon. They are there to play a game. thats all nothing else. They would not even think of going to see "gram" if not for the game. As for your comment on asking why you do something before dressing you down.....All I can say about that is when i see something going on that I think is wrong...you bet I will dress you down for it. As I said in my first post it is my "opinion"

about this subject.....an opinion I will stress that just happens to be RIGHT. I dont expect to make any friends talking about this subject and thats OK, especially those that think its ok to do this. But I do expect some form of "ethics" in this game or how will we be taken seriously. If we do not even respect the dead how can we expect the living to respect us and what we do?

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I think your wrong period.............there are not there to reflect on the people there, if you believe that I have land for you on the moon. They are there to play a game. thats all nothing else......

 

Speaking of respect - please don't TELL me what I am doing. I know what I am doing and I am being respectful while at it. Thanks!!

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I think your wrong period.............there are not there to reflect on the people there, if you believe that I have land for you on the moon.

 

I'll take some of that moon land, if you please. I know many people who cache in cemeteries do so with the greatest of respect for those who are there. Many times we have walked through the headstones and stopped to reflect above the lives of people we never knew.

 

As with any activity, there are bad cemetery caches and bad cemetery cachers but please don't condemn all of us with one broad stroke of the brush. Thanks.

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I think your wrong period.............there are not there to reflect on the people there, if you believe that I have land for you on the moon. They are there to play a game. thats all nothing else......

 

Speaking of respect - please don't TELL me what I am doing. I know what I am doing and I am being respectful while at it. Thanks!!

 

 

 

Your just not getting it.....just by playing a game there no matter how respectful you think you are.......its disrespectful. Do you see any other games, businesses, sports, etc. in cemetaries? NO!!! Why do you think that is? Because what we are discussing is common sense to most people in this world. I sorry if you are offended but obvoiusly that is what is needed here.

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Your just not getting it.....just by playing a game there no matter how respectful you think you are.......its disrespectful. Do you see any other games, businesses, sports, etc. in cemetaries? NO!!! Why do you think that is? Because what we are discussing is common sense to most people in this world. I sorry if you are offended but obvoiusly that is what is needed here.

 

As you stated - "In your opinion". I just happen to see it differently. We simply disagree.

 

BTW - I have seen folks jogging in the cemetary, walking pets, doing research (business) for geneology and even a game of checkers.

 

MY opinion is stated now - the dead can't/don't care because they are dead and have departed. I will always avoid others visiting the cemetary so as to not interupt them for whatever reason they are there and caches should never be placed on any grave marker/memorial of any kind. Nearby grounds and borders around cemetary are ok. I actually perfer that information found in/at the cemetarty be used in stages of a cache but have seen some respectful caches placed on the grounds. And to answer one of your original questions - I have no problem if you want to run/walk/dance/play ball on any of MY relatives gravesites.

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I think your wrong period.............there are not there to reflect on the people there, if you believe that I have land for you on the moon.

 

I'll take some of that moon land, if you please. I know many people who cache in cemeteries do so with the greatest of respect for those who are there. Many times we have walked through the headstones and stopped to reflect above the lives of people we never knew.

 

As with any activity, there are bad cemetery caches and bad cemetery cachers but please don't condemn all of us with one broad stroke of the brush. Thanks.

 

I agree there are good and bad in everything. Let me clarify......I am speaking of the caches that are IN cemetaries. I understand there may be caches close to them, but they should not be in them. I would also reccomend a 100 yard "buffer" zone around cemetaries. So that no cache is to be placed within the buffer zone.

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Wow... all I can say is - wow. :(

 

There are many ways to play the game and many types of people who play it... I would hope that you would spend your time enjoying the things you do like about the game rather than being so angry about one small component of it. We get that you disagree but you should know that if you feel this stongly about an issue, there are better places to address it. Namely, you can email the people who own this site and politely suggest a policy change. Who knows, they might agree with you. They also may not agree with you - and that is their right.

 

You see, this is a THEIR GAME, with built in rules. The rules are not established by the players but by the people who own and maintane the site (namely Jeremy). You can either agree to play the game as it stands (and then politely work to change the things that you do not like as you gain more experience) OR you can decide that you don't like the rules and not play at all. Those are your choices. Well... really, I think that you could continue on this tangent and possibly eventually get yourself banned. :huh: While it might be more fun for some of us to watch you do that, :huh: it wouldn't be a very respectful route to take.

 

Thems the apples, eat em or not.

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I have found two caches in cemetaries, both virtual, and have never been anything but respectful of my surroundings. Also, a few weeks ago I took my younger daughter to an older cemetary in our area. No caching, we just walked around reading tombstones, comparing dates, and talking about life and death in general. We cleaned off tombstones that hadn't seen light in years. My daughter is only six year old but she was respectful of the graves, enjoyed herself, and has asked when we will this again. Different strokes for different folks. hidingpool.

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....... I would like to know your opinions for or against.

 

To me all of the Earth is sacred and I thread in reverence wherever my journeys take me, be it a cemetery or a wooded thicket.

 

Having found many caches in and around cemeteries as well as hiding a 3 myself, I see nothing wrong with it. In fact I rather enjoy them. I have learned more about the areas I have visited from Cemetery caches than any other type of caches found in the same area. Cemeteries are a history book waiting to be explored. I guarantee you the ones interred at these locations do not care about this; they are beyond the limitations and dogma that the flesh burdens us with. As long as no one tramples, vandalizes or disturbs anything I see no wrong.

 

Now, having said that, if a funeral were taking place, I would pass for now, but come back later.

 

I really guess it is all a matter of perspective.

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It's okay to feel strongly about a subject, but you have to realize that your feelings reflect your opinion, not a fact of life. I haven't done any cemetary caches, but I have visited cemetaries and walked among the resting places of those who reside there. I've looked on with a little sadness and also a little wonder at how often husbands and wives die within weeks or months of each other. It makes me think about my own mortality and my love for my wife and children. I've mourned the loss of total strangers who died so young they never got a chance to live. I've marveled at people who lived over a hundred years during the 19th and early twentieth century. How strong they must have been to live that long in a world that had, at best, only rudimentary medical care.

 

Visitng a cemetary isn't disrespectful, it's actually a way to get in touch with our past, our history, our own soul.

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You see, this is a THEIR GAME, with built in rules. The rules are not established by the players but by the people who own and maintane the site (namely Jeremy).

 

Well I can see from the 99% responses that like to play in cemetaries that I am in the minority. You are right that the players dont make the rules...I get that. But I choose to not play in cemetaries and that is my right no matter what the rules say. As you can see I feel strongly about this, but the rules are the rules. And if a heated debate will get someone banned on this site then so be it. "Stand for something or fall for everything" I forget who said it but its true. I've had my say....you know where I stand on this subject no need to argue back and forth. It doesnt look like minds will be changed anyway. We are all part of the same team playing the same game its ok to disagree.

 

God Bless

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I haven't done any cemetary caches, but I have visited cemetaries and walked among the resting places of those who reside there. I've looked on with a little sadness and also a little wonder at how often husbands and wives die within weeks or months of each other. It makes me think about my own mortality and my love for my wife and children. I've mourned the loss of total strangers who died so young they never got a chance to live. I've marveled at people who lived over a hundred years during the 19th and early twentieth century. How strong they must have been to live that long in a world that had, at best, only rudimentary medical care.

 

Visitng a cemetary isn't disrespectful, it's actually a way to get in touch with our past, our history, our own soul.

 

I agree with you. Well said.

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I kind of like the idea of strangers passing my grave after I'm gone from this life. Maybe stopping for a minute to wonder who I was and what my life was like. I would feel no disrespect from them, and I don't think most people would.

 

I have done a few cemetery caches, and find them interesting. Especially older cemeteries. If you think you cannot do one without disrespecting those buried there, please do not do these caches. If you are of the opinion people cannot enjoy life while respecting those who are no longer living, then you are mistaken. If you dread the idea of others enjoying life after you are gone, that is sad.

 

If people buried there really did sit around and talk with each other, like the play "Our Town" I bet most of them would love seeing people come to the cemetery to walk, picnic, or Geocache.

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I have just been on a walk with my wife and kids and have had time to think about what was said here. I have come to the conclusion that:

 

I owe you all an apology for the tone of my message. I didnt want to be offensive to anyone for that I apologize.

 

I do stand by the content on that message. I could have said it in a nicer way.

 

I just hope we can have fun doing this thing we seem to love and enjoy so much.

 

Happy Hunting.

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I have just been on a walk with my wife and kids and have had time to think about what was said here. I have come to the conclusion that:

 

I owe you all an apology for the tone of my message. I didnt want to be offensive to anyone for that I apologize.

 

I do stand by the content on that message. I could have said it in a nicer way.

 

I just hope we can have fun doing this thing we seem to love and enjoy so much.

 

Happy Hunting.

Takes a big person to apoligize and maybe just maybe you will change your way of thinking. I thought the same way at first but after some great history lessons and saying more then a few prayers for fellow Military members and babies who didnt see their first birthday have changed my mind as long as they are done right. Welcome to our sport and pasttime

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I've done some cemetery caches. I do not think any of them were active (cemeteries, that is). I spent time reading the headstones and wondering what life must have been like in 16-1700's to see children who have passed on before their tenth birthday. What was it like for some to have buried sons lost in those early wars of the founding of America?

 

This is not disrespectful. In fact, it is the opposite. By remembering these people, we remember our history. That a cache brought me there is simply that - I have a reason for being there. Taking the extra time to contemplate is a wonderful experience. As someone else posted earlier, people having picnics in cemeteries, or playing a quiet game of checkers as in days past - these things, done respectfully, do not dishoner the dead or their living families. They honor them by remembering and engaging the past.

 

There are functional concerns - I have yet to see one *IN* a cemetery, but certainly in nearby stonewalls, after following clues based upon the content of the headstones. Leaving a container in the cemetery would certainly see it removed by any active grounds-keeping activities.

 

What dismays me more is the destruction of headstones by youths. One nice cache near me was destroyed because it had some occultic legends around it. Someone came one night and when it didn't do what it was supposed to do, they broke it (the headstone).

 

As for my grave - I would be happy if people danced on it. Love life while you have it. Dance on my grave.

Edited by New England n00b
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Well I can see from the 99% responses that like to play in cemetaries that I am in the minority. You are right that the players dont make the rules...I get that. But I choose to not play in cemetaries and that is my right no matter what the rules say. As you can see I feel strongly about this, but the rules are the rules. And if a heated debate will get someone banned on this site then so be it. "Stand for something or fall for everything" I forget who said it but its true. I've had my say....you know where I stand on this subject no need to argue back and forth. It doesnt look like minds will be changed anyway. We are all part of the same team playing the same game its ok to disagree.

 

God Bless

 

I, for one, certainly agree with you. But there is a very vocal contingent here, and it has become not worth arguing. Neither you nor I will change their minds. And they will not change ours.

I understand researching history. I've done that in cemeteries. With respect for the deceased.

If they want to walk their dogs, skateboard, or play checkers in cemeteries, that is their prerogative. And they will loudly, and vociferously, defend their right.

I will not tromp on graves to find a micro hidden in the tree. Nor will I add the year Seargent Smith died to find the coordinates to find the next stage. I was brought up to realize that this is sacrilegious. And I will be lambasted by that contingent for expressing these feelings. It seems that they do not respect our feelings sensibilites and beliefs.

Be that as it may, there are several cemetery caches on our nearby list that will never be attempted. You can put them on your 'Ignore' list as have I.

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As I said in my first post it is my "opinion" about this subject.....an opinion I will stress that just happens to be RIGHT.

 

It always amuses me when some Johnny-come-lately waltzes in somewhere and starts dictating to a long-existing community how they should behave. But you've taken it to new heights with that "my opinion is right" schtick. I'm definitely laughing.

 

I do expect some form of "ethics" in this game or how will we be taken seriously. If we do not even respect the dead how can we expect the living to respect us and what we do?

 

Expect all you want, but while you're at it, expect to be disappointed. 'Ethics' is not an absolute concept, and varies, often dramatically, from one person to the next. You're asking people to show respect, maybe you could try leading by example.

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First off, Raven, your wife seems like a good, calming influence; hang onto her! :huh:

 

I'd dismissed you as a something of a bigot until your post-perambulation post, but I'll now take your opinion more seriously.

 

I'm a reviewer in Australia and I share some of your concerns. As an atheist, I don't consider cemeteries sacred ground, but I do know them to be places that people come to grieve and to pay respects to departed loved ones.

 

So, when I see a cemetery cache being listed, I check to see how respectfully it's placed. If there's a physical container close to a grave, being aware of the likelihood of the 'magic arrow' pointing to places 10 or 20 metres from the real GZ, I strongly suggest moving it to somewhere more respectful. Really, really strongly. Almost requiring it, in fact.

 

With that proviso, though, I have few problems with cemeteries being used by the living. Seeing families having a picnic on the lawns, kids playing nearby, seems perfectly appropriate to me. Seeing those same kids making sand-castles on a grave, however, would bother me...

 

Do remember to extend your sensitivity to other belief systems, too. I wasn't happy to see that recent Signal calendar cartoon with him climbing Uluru (aka Ayers Rock) and there's no way a cache will be published in Australia on an Aboriginal sacred site without the owners' permission.

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It always amuses me when some Johnny-come-lately waltzes in somewhere and starts dictating to a long-existing community how they should behave.

 

I don't have a problem listening to someone, even when they seem a bit passionate about an issue.

 

Maybe they'll give my issues some consideration in return. Seems only fair.

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If it weren't for the cemetary caches, we wouldn't have known about all the little country cemetaries we have visited. If living people are there, visiting the departed, we pass them by, or wander amongst the markers, marveling at the dates, and wondering about life back then. For certain, if a service were being held, we would go on. We have learned a bit of history from the cemetary caches we have visited. In Texas, for example, you can find special markers denoting a person that was a Texas Ranger. Those are always fascinating to see, and to think about the part they played in creating the Texas we live in today. The same goes with the many markers we have seen that have denoted the branch of the service a person was in, telling us about the part they may have played to keep our country the wonderful place it is to live in. One in nearby Round Rock takes you to the marker of Sam Bass, a notorious outlaw of early Texas. What I found more fascinating was the section of the cemetary just north of that marker, which was the older slave cemetary.

 

As it has been mentioned before, many other people use cemetaries for their activities, or "games" as you might call them, whether it be birding, geneology, picnicing, or just reminiscing. Maybe the frequent usage of the cemetaries by the living will help keep out the vandals that like to destroy things!

 

Yes, we are playing a game, but there is nothing wrong about learning a bit about history while we do it. We don't "run all over" the markers, but walk respectfully beside them.

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Just like any other subset of hides, cemetery caches can be done well or poorly. Hopefully this community is self regulating enough to weed out the poorly done ones. The well done ones can be educational as well as fun. Geocachers are not the only ones who see cemeteries as places for other activities beyond the final resting places of our physical beings.

The Association for Gravestone Studies considers gravestone rubbings fun.

One of Boston's main tourist attractions is the Freedom Trail Three million tourists a year follow the red brick line, through three historic cemeteries, all for education and entertainment.

A google on Halloween Cemetery tours provided over 500,000 hits including one at the historic Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

 

It seems that geocachers are not the only ones who think cemeteries are places for more than just storing the deceased.

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Your just not getting it.....just by playing a game there no matter how respectful you think you are.......its disrespectful.

 

You see geocaching as a game. I see it as a tool to explore the world around me and discover new and interesting places. Cemeteries are chock full of history and are interesting places to me. I sometimes wandered cemeteries before I began geocaching, looking at the tombstone artwork, reading inscriptions, learning a bit about attitudes towards death in different eras and reflecting on the lives of the people interred there. If someone places a cache in a cemetery that allows me to discover an unfamiliar one, I think that's great.

 

Besides if I wasn't for a cache in a cemetery I never would have had this experience and I'm grateful that someone placed the cache that brought me there.

Edited by briansnat
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I haven't done any cemetary caches, but I have visited cemetaries and walked among the resting places of those who reside there. I've looked on with a little sadness and also a little wonder at how often husbands and wives die within weeks or months of each other. It makes me think about my own mortality and my love for my wife and children. I've mourned the loss of total strangers who died so young they never got a chance to live. I've marveled at people who lived over a hundred years during the 19th and early twentieth century. How strong they must have been to live that long in a world that had, at best, only rudimentary medical care.

 

Visitng a cemetary isn't disrespectful, it's actually a way to get in touch with our past, our history, our own soul.

 

I agree with you. Well said.

 

Well if you agree that you can respectfully visit a cemetary, then you should realize that many of the caches are placed specifically because the owner of that cache wants you to visit. They want you to find the cache of course, but they may also want you to reflect on all of the things I mentioned and more. They may want you to visit the grave of the soldier who gave his life defending our country or the teen who was killed by a drunk driver and reflect on your own mortality.

 

You obviously find cemetary caches distasteful and you should certainly avoid them, but don't presume to know why people cache in cemetaries or how they conduct themselves while they are there.

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I think your wrong period.............there are not there to reflect on the people there, if you believe that I have land for you on the moon. They are there to play a game. thats all nothing else.

 

And I KNOW that you're wrong, "period". Many people, myself included, like to visit older cemetaries, and we do so with a great deal of respect. If we look for a cache at the same time, that in no way diminishes the respect we have for those buried there.

 

As I said in my first post it is my "opinion"

about this subject.....an opinion I will stress that just happens to be RIGHT.

 

Mmhm. IOW, you really don't want to hear what anybody has to say.

 

If we do not even respect the dead how can we expect the living to respect us and what we do?

 

And there's the fatal flaw in your theory - your entirely erroneous belief that every single person who ever geocaches at a cemetary is behaving disrespectfully.

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Thank you for posting that last, calmer, post, Raven02. I was concerned for your earlier posts. As you realized, saying your mind won't get a person banned, but being extremely provacative can do just that. I would have hated to see you go through that kind of traumatic expereince as a new cacher.

 

As for cemeteries and caching...If it makes you feel uncomfortable you definitely should not do it. That goes for any kind of cache. If you go to caches of a type you don't like, you find yourself looking for things that are wrong with them--which lessens your enjoyment. If they are in a place that causes you distress, the problem is even worse. People afraid of dark woods should stick with cities. People who feel clauterphobic should avoid caches in tight places, and so forth.

 

It happens that I love cemeteries. I have since I was a child. There are already at least two or three long posts I've made in the forums about why that it so, so I won't repeat them, except to say that my grandmother began that tradition in all of her grandchildren.

 

I've cached in many cemeteries and never found a single one that was disrepectfully done. By that, I mean the actual cache was on a stone or caused the cacher to have to delibrately cross a grave.

 

I've also walked in cemeteries, taken photographs, researched my family, taken photographs for other people for their family history. I've been in cemeteries to do research for a college Biology course, a college Geography course, a college statistics course, and a college Art History course. I've been to cemeteries for historical tours and art tours. I've taken Girl Scouts there to earn a merit badge. I've seen wonderful boy scout projects to revamp and refurbish neglected pioneer cemeteries.

 

I don't find cemeteries to be mournful places, although I have been in them to lay loved ones to rest. I've gone to a cemetery to stand by the stone of a good friend who died of an aneurism at age 24 and say goodbye, because I was half a continent away when he died and was buried. I went to the cemetery two months after my grandmother died to stand by her stone and tell her that I was going to have a baby. Turns out I was pregnant when she died and didn't know it yet. I'd been told by doctors for years that it would never happen! She would have been pleased to hear it, as she kept after me for years to start our family. Oh sure, they don't hear me, but I felt better for having gone there to have my say.

 

I've been angered by the neglected state of abandoned and ruined cemeteries. I've been outraged over vandalized cemeteries. I've helped restore both of those. I've been thrilled with the beauty of cemeteries that have gone out of their way to create park-like settings with picnic pavillions, gazebos, walking paths, and art displays for visitors to enjoy.

 

You may never feel the way I do about cemeteries. I can understand your point of view, and hope that you can try to see mine as well. Welcome to geocaching--one thing is for sure, there will be plenty of other caches out there that will appeal to you. Happy caching.

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Thank you for posting that last, calmer, post, Raven02. I was concerned for your earlier posts. As you realized, saying your mind won't get a person banned, but being extremely provacative can do just that. I would have hated to see you go through that kind of traumatic expereince as a new cacher.

 

As for cemeteries and caching...If it makes you feel uncomfortable you definitely should not do it. That goes for any kind of cache. If you go to caches of a type you don't like, you find yourself looking for things that are wrong with them--which lessens your enjoyment. If they are in a place that causes you distress, the problem is even worse. People afraid of dark woods should stick with cities. People who feel clauterphobic should avoid caches in tight places, and so forth.

 

It happens that I love cemeteries. I have since I was a child. There are already at least two or three long posts I've made in the forums about why that it so, so I won't repeat them, except to say that my grandmother began that tradition in all of her grandchildren.

 

I've cached in many cemeteries and never found a single one that was disrepectfully done. By that, I mean the actual cache was on a stone or caused the cacher to have to delibrately cross a grave.

 

I've also walked in cemeteries, taken photographs, researched my family, taken photographs for other people for their family history. I've been in cemeteries to do research for a college Biology course, a college Geography course, a college statistics course, and a college Art History course. I've been to cemeteries for historical tours and art tours. I've taken Girl Scouts there to earn a merit badge. I've seen wonderful boy scout projects to revamp and refurbish neglected pioneer cemeteries.

 

I don't find cemeteries to be mournful places, although I have been in them to lay loved ones to rest. I've gone to a cemetery to stand by the stone of a good friend who died of an aneurism at age 24 and say goodbye, because I was half a continent away when he died and was buried. I went to the cemetery two months after my grandmother died to stand by her stone and tell her that I was going to have a baby. Turns out I was pregnant when she died and didn't know it yet. I'd been told by doctors for years that it would never happen! She would have been pleased to hear it, as she kept after me for years to start our family. Oh sure, they don't hear me, but I felt better for having gone there to have my say.

 

I've been angered by the neglected state of abandoned and ruined cemeteries. I've been outraged over vandalized cemeteries. I've helped restore both of those. I've been thrilled with the beauty of cemeteries that have gone out of their way to create park-like settings with picnic pavillions, gazebos, walking paths, and art displays for visitors to enjoy.

 

You may never feel the way I do about cemeteries. I can understand your point of view, and hope that you can try to see mine as well. Welcome to geocaching--one thing is for sure, there will be plenty of other caches out there that will appeal to you. Happy caching.

 

This is a very nice post. A lot more respectful to me than I was to you. I seem to have been misunderstood from reading all of your posts. I am not opposed to visiting loved ones, cleaning. restoring, Gaining knowledge, learning about history, Viewing the headstones, down right curiousity(sp), etc... I too have loved ones in cemetaries and it would be nice to have someone clean off the stone when needed. There are plenty of good reasons to go to a cemetary. I have no problem with those reasons at all. If cemetaries are your thing by all means go see them all. I have walked through the cemetaries in New Orleans before the hurricane. I just have a problem with doing this type of thing in a cemetary. I just think you should show more respect thats all. I can see that from these posts that we all have a level of respect for cemetaries. We all have to find that place where we draw the line. Obviously its different for us all.

 

Happy Hunting

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By any chance, does the OP happen to be my ex-wife? Identical approach.

 

I rather enjoy caches in old cemetaries that are not actively getting new residents. I seldom would go after caches in active cemetaries, as I would hate to stumble on someone who is mourning.

Edited by Okiebryan
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Responding a bit late to the topic, but here goes...

 

I saw a bunch of "Spirit Quest" and "Walking with the Dead" waypoints near the Indiana/Michigan/Ohio border while caching there with my brother. It was getting dark, so our decision was "skip 'em." We had no idea how the neighbors would react to activities (flashlights, noise, movement, etc.) in the dark near a cemetery.

 

I visit cemetery caches, whether it's placed inside or outside. I am careful when I navigate inside: follow established paths, stay alert for hard-to-see headstones.

 

I won't hide a cemetery cache. For people who want to, be sure to design the cache (especially a multi) to take people to interesting sites, so others in the cemetery will not become alarmed at a cacher's presence. For example, Joe DiMaggio's grave is a nice stage for a multi. :unsure: (such a cache already exists)

 

I was at another famous person's gravestone (can't mention who - it'd be a spoiler) and there was a group of muggles taking photos like drive-by tourists. However, the oldest lady in the group happened to be related to this famous person, and she told me some interesting stories... so "respect" might be in the eye of the beholder.

 

I respect the OP's strong feelings on the issue. I'll do my best to act, not just think with respect. :laughing:

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Raven02 i agree with you 100% and i also agree that allot of people who play this game are well lets say immature in certain ways and argumentative..to say the least they take any criticism as a personnel attack on Geo caching which it is NOT!..they have some dumb rules and they have some dumb people but i would be willing to bet that the greater percentage of geo cachers would not go to a cemetery to find a stupid cache..so please do not let the naysayers and trolls here get to ya..well done for speaking your piece.

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Seems like I'm coming into this one a little late, but I just had to comment. Before I discovered geocaching, I generally avoided cemeteries at all costs. Really, every experience I had ever had in a cemetery was at a funeral of a loved one. So, in my mind, I associated grief with cemeteries.

 

 

When I first started caching, one of my first 20 or so finds was in a small local cemetery. My wife and I felt very uncomfortable searching in a cemetery for a cache. The actual cache was there to draw the seekers attention to a headstone of a child, 10 yrs. old if I remember right. The inscription on the tombstone actually read years, months, days, that this child had lived. It kind of touched me. I have two young kids and I can't begin to imagine the grief that comes with losing a child that young. The fact that the parents of this child actually took the time to have the exact amount of time, down to the day, that the child lived really solidified it for me.

 

 

Now, I still wasn't completely comfortable with caching in cemeteries at this point. But, 400ish finds later, I have no problem with it as long as it's done respectfully. I have done probably around 15 cemetery caches to this point and several of them really stick out as my more memorable caches. One in particular, was an old family cemetery, literally 15 miles from the nearest civilization. It was located in the middle of a several thousand acre hunting club with a little unmaintained public dirt road leading back to the cemetery. I still do not know how I managed to get my little honda civic back to the cache site on this road, but I did it without incident. Upon reaching the area, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Here was an old cemetery (no burials that I saw since the early 1900s), in the middle of nowhere, basically on the side of a mountain. Not super steep, but definitely not run of the mill cemetery grounds. One particular area of this little cemetery had a layout of three small, yet elaborate, tombstones of small children. Two of them born/died in the same year, another that lived to 3...and right next to them was the tombstone of their mother. If that doesn't make you stop and think how rough our ancestors had it...then nothing will. On the way out, I noticed a veteran marker on a grave in the back corner. I approached to find the gravesite of a civil war soldier.

 

 

I've also had the honor of visiting the gravesite of a civil war brigadier general, along with another general that was buried less than 100 feet away. If that's not history, I don't know what is.

 

 

The point of all my ramblings? These are historical sites.

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I was just looking at another Pocket Query I was going to load into my GPS and I felt I had to say something about it. I am new to Geocaching, have only been at it for a month +/-. But I see alot of caches put into or around cemetaries. I dont understand why this is done. Yes Yes i know about the spirit quests... IT seems to me that these places are where people put their loved ones after they die. How would you like hundreds of people running all over the place where you buried your mother, father, child just to play a game. Are you that hard up to find a decent place to hide a cache? Or is there just a total lack of respect for these places and the people and loved ones buried there? To play a GAME in these places is out of line and disrespectful in my opinion and I for one will NOT go after a cache in a cemetary. Maybe someday you will realize this when you have a loved one buried in one and people are running all over their grave to play a game. If you dont like what I have writen GOOD maybe you will think twice about hiding a cache in a cemetary. Ask youself this .......do you think I am the only one who thinks this way? I AM the one to stand up and say something about it. The people I have met while caching seem very nice and concerned about nature and the environment. The are a special breed apart. I can only hope we come to our senses and stop hiding caches in places like this.

 

I would like to know your opinions for or against.

My opinion is that cemetaries cache's rock, and I think the ISQ cache's are great. :laughing: Maybe some cemetaries cache's are disrespectful, but I my experience with the ISQ cache's cemetaries cache's are great, and as long as they do not place them on the headstones I think they are o.k.

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Raven02 i agree with you 100%

allot of people who play this game are well lets say immature in certain ways and argumentative.

they have some dumb rules

they have some dumb people

naysayers and trolls here get to ya

 

<rolls eyes>

 

It'd be laughable if it weren't so damnably tragic.

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Raven02, thank you for your applogy. I don't mind that you view things differently than I do, that is a part of life, but I do take issue with the tone of your original post. Nearly all of us are good people with great respect of others and the environment who enjoy this little game for a variety of reasons. Some for something to do, some for smilies, some to learn more of where they live and visit. All kinds of players and ways of playing exist here - and most of the time, we do get along. It does help in the getting along part when people ask why instead of saying 'you're wrong'... but I think you've figured that out already. I hope that you continue to play the game and continue to ask questions and hopefully, other members can tell you the very thoughtful reasons behind the things that we do. Because, you should know, that nearly every component of the game has been discussed and argued and thought out at great length. I'm sure that TPTB are open to new perspectives and polite suggestions, but probably not so much to posts with anger control issues. I know that I wouldn't respond well to those.

 

As I said before, welcome to the game! I hope that your family joins you in the adventures that lie ahead. It has been a wonderful way to spend time with my husband and has brought my family closer together as we are all into caching now (well, except my wierd brother :laughing: ). Good luck and if you ever have any questions, please feel free to ask.

 

Paz!

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The majority of my finds are cemetery caches; I go out of my way to reach the older cemeteries. The history contained in them is irreplaceable. I'm fortunate enough to live in a town that prides itself on it's history; many of the homes of the folks who rest in our local cemetery still exist here today, 150 years later. Being able to connect these folks to their homes and to the local stories of their histories is a way of being able to connect to the past. I wouldn't have known about many of these outlying cemeteries if a geocache had not been placed in them.

 

I will continue to seek out these older cemeteries in hopes of preserving their stories.

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Or is there just a total lack of respect for these places and the people and loved ones buried there?

 

First off, I dont think visiting a cemetary to look for a cache shows any disrespect at all. As long as the cachers don't move things they shouldn't move or do any digging or other actions like that that would be totally unnecessary assuming the cache is hidden according to common sense and the present guidelines.

 

How is caching disrespectful? Your post seems to indicate that the very presence of cachers is somehow disrespectful. i cannot get behind that. People visit cemetaries for a lot of reasons. many people (cachers included) enjoy musing over the history of all the COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN souls represented by the stones.

 

Many, I would say MOST of the residents of the cemetaries get absolutely NO visitors, especially after they have been gone for a couple of generations. It would seem to me that the geocachers who visit and enjoy the cemetaries are the only people RESPECTING the graves of the forgotted dead. I am sure this is ESPECIALLY true of the cachers whose caches are mostly placed in cemetaries.

 

It is obvious to me, in caches like the "Indiana Spirit Quest" series, that the people who place and to a lesser extent the people who hunt these caches, TRULY RESPECT the souls whose lives are represented by the graves and stones of the cemetaries. One needs only look at the care and research that goes into their cache pages to see this.

 

Is it disrespectful that the caching community has brought visitors to the honoured and forgotten dead in cemetaries that are so old that noone would even know they exist except for the caches placed by these historians?

 

How would you like hundreds of people running all over the place where you buried your mother, father, child just to play a game.

I would find it quite refreshing that life goes on and the children, whose vision of tomorrow is enabled by yesterday's lives of the honoured dead play on the ground where they are buried.

 

Funerals and cemetaries should CELEBRATE the lives of those passed on, not just mourn their loss. The souls whose last remains reside forever in these places contributed incalculably to your and my future.

 

What better way to honour them than to ENJOY their final resting place?

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Cemetaries are great parks that almost no one visits.

 

Sometimes on Halloween there are the lunatics that actually dig up a dead person and pose the body for laughs. Relative to that, geocaching seems harmless.

 

I've done some statistical analysis in a graveyard, and after seeing so many headstones sunken below the mud or covered by a tree root I can only conclude that most of those people are completely forgotten.

 

So little respect is given to the living that I haven't gotten around to worrying about the dead.

 

I hope someone puts a geocache on my grave. It would be the only way to get people to visit, unfortunately.

 

I respect the OP's passion on the subject. I don't share it, but I do understand it. I don't wish to see Raven02 get slammed over it.

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used to be very common to go have pleasant outings in cemeteries. have a little picninc, play some frisbee with the dead.

 

i used to hang out a lot in cememteries; i went to take pictures of the stones and sometimes go do research on the dead. simply for my own amusement.

 

i steer clear of active mourners out of courtesy. even at active cemeteries it's possible to cache appropriately.

 

but a lot of these caches are at or near OLD cemeteries. i'll come for the ammo can but stay to pay respects, read stones. when no one is left to read the stones, to wonder and to think, the memory of these people dies.

 

when i die, i want a secret compartment witha log book in my headstone.

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Right or wrong this is MY OPINION. Tactfully placed and respectfully hunted caches in cemetaries are fine. There are people out there who oppose the whole concept of geocaching because they see leaving containers in the woods as littering. Obviously those of us who participate disagree. The bigger point is there are millions of things in this world we may not agree with but we are entitled to our own opinions

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Your just not getting it.....just by playing a game there no matter how respectful you think you are.......its disrespectful.

 

You see geocaching as a game. I see it as a tool to explore the world around me and discover new and interesting places. Cemeteries are chock full of history and are interesting places to me. I sometimes wandered cemeteries before I began geocaching, looking at the tombstone artwork, reading inscriptions, learning a bit about attitudes towards death in different eras and reflecting on the lives of the people interred there. If someone places a cache in a cemetery that allows me to discover an unfamiliar one, I think that's great.

 

Here, here! It's true that I was also very apprehensive about visiting cemetery caches in the beginning before I realized how much there was to learn. Moun10Girl and I have been visiting Gettysburg and the national cemetery there for over 10 years and just in the last two visit (since we've added caching to our activities) we've found two whole new sections of the cemetery and park that we'd been missing all along. I've learned more in those last two visits than in most of my previous visits because we needed to stop and read the stories, monuments and gravemarkers that are used in caching. It was a wonderful experience. I promise you the great majority of everyone there (cachers or not) have the greatest respect for the ground they walk on. They were there to reflect and maybe just enjoy themselves in the process. :blink:

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i'll come for the ammo can but stay to pay respects, read stones.

I think this is probably true of most cachers.

 

I am not a cemetary person and cemetary caches are not generally my favourites. But the caches give me a reason to go there and when I am there I always take a little time to look around. I have "met" a lot of interesting people through their headstones and the inscriptions thereon- people who are long forgotten to almost everyone.

 

I, and perhaps many or most cachers, also take a little time to pick up trash and correct any easily correctable problems I see (like fallen stones or flags).

 

I see nothing but good coming out of caches in cemetaries.

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I think a well placed cache at a cemetery, as long as they're not on tombstones, could bring some recognition to litter, vandalism and detiorating forgotten cemeteries. I can't believe all the unreadable headstones out there, and some of them are famous people too.

What a cemetery cache does for my family is teaches the kids a little respect for the dead, and a little history lesson too. I get so mad at the vandalism that goes on at a cemetery. Maybe then when they get a little older, they won't be the ones that I read about in the papers that vandalize cemeteries. Seems to happen quite a bit around here for reasons that can't be explained. Can't believe the disrespect that somebody has to someone that can't defend themselves. So being at a cache in a cemetery doesn't bother me at all. I will not stop at one with a ceremony going on. But whenever at one, we will always straighten flowers up so the dirt won't ruin them. Straighten up military medallions, that were obvisiouly bent by a riding mower. When ever possible try to stand up a Marker that was obviously kick over by vandals. Fix broken flags whenever possible.

I too thought of the play "Our Town" when I started reading this thread. Maybe that play is the reason I feel this way, I don't know. But it would be neat to sit there and watch somebody come a long and ponder over your life and just wonder about you. "Look Ma there is someone here to see us!" :blink:

Edited by winston24
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