Cache Idea: Lame Or Cool?

1.2k · January 29, 2005

East of the Portland, OR airport is several acres of public, vacant land scheduled for development. The development was supposed to happen some years ago, which is why a few roads where put in and a commuter train station built there as well. But then deals fell through, and you had a road to nowhere with planes flying over it. The road has little mini-parks in the median with benches where you can sit and look over the quiet fields.

2 year ago, I wandered this land, and discovered what basically turned out to be an unofficial local wildlife park. Beautiful trees, birds everywhere, butterflies, and beauty in what should have been an urban wasteland. Very beautiful surprise.

And in the middle of this lovely place was THE most magical willow tree I've ever known. Some of it's branches had broken and bent in a perfect way to form what amounted to willow tree hideout that was like something out of Lord Of The Rings. I called it a "magic room made out of birdsong and leaves".

Cachers loved the place. I know I sure did. When the Portland Cache Machine happened, some cachers emailed me and told me that was the most beautiful location they saw during that whole event. Rock on, wonderful tree.

Then last August, thems in charge ordered the whole place bulldozed down to a big, muddy pancake. <_<

No more birds. No more wildlife in that beautiful, unexpected place.

Goodbye, magical tree, I miss you.

Now... development is development... and once the big box stores and the industries and whatnot move in, we will get to have extra jobs in the area, better economic activity for the area, etc. So all that should be appreciated.

And I get that. Ah yes, I do.

Cities have got to grow and stuff. I know that.

But I have mixed feelings. We gain a Home Depot or whatever... and lose wildife and birdsong and a quite, unique sort of living magic, like that special willow tree was.

I don't know what to think.

So I want to place a micro under one of those benches which face the field where the magic willow tree used to be. I want to call it "Mixed Feelings". The goal is for cachers to sit on the bench, know the story of this place and the tree that used to be there, observe as development comes in, and just ponder upon whatever their view is on this whole story. Not to be political, but just to perhaps think and wonder just a little what it is we gain and what we lose in that process our society calls "progress".

That sure seems to me to be a good reason for a cache. The problem is... there are probably folks who probably just won't "get it". Probably would call it "some lame micro stuck on some bench in the middle of nowhere...." complain-complain, etc. Arrrgh.

Well, err... technically, it WOULD be a boring micro stuck on an uninteresting bench somewhere if you didn't take care to ponder the story behind the cache, I suppose. And I don't want to place an uninteresting cache.

Should I go ahead with the idea anyway? Why or why not?

Be interesting to get other's perspective on the point of my proposed cache. :lol:

Thanks to everyone in advance.

Edited January 29, 2005 by Sparrowhawk

1.6k · January 29, 2005

I say go for it . Just try to include this story on the cache page . Plus I just hope you managed to grab a picture or two of the "way" it was and that you can include those as well . That would give people even more to reflect upon when they visit the site as it currently is becoming.

Star

1.2k · January 29, 2005

This is one pic of how the place looked, photoshopped into a tribute. I also have some sunset shots which were pretty cool.

Including the pics with the story on the cache page should work.

Edited January 29, 2005 by Sparrowhawk

January 30, 2005

As I was reading your OP I too was thinking about your possibly having a picture. In the pic you posted I would strongly suggest removing the text from on top of the tree itself. Perhaps write a note on the back of the photo similar to what you wrote in your OP and laminate it to make it weather resistant.

I think it would make a terrific micro and far from the typical "lame" micro.

January 30, 2005

I think you should do it! It would not be lame if you include everything you stated. I like the "reflection" type caches.

2.1k · January 30, 2005

sounds pretty cool to me - and 10 points for you too -

cc

January 30, 2005

I like it, and I always read the listings thoroughly before heading out.

Gives you a heads up, and you can see your slam dunk micros.

I bet you would get some great logs with similar story's?

January 30, 2005

Doesn't sound lame to me at all.....of course, I'm still not sure what constitutes a lame cache, I haven' t run into any so far in three years. I like your idea and my vote would be to go for it.

2k · January 30, 2005

Sounds cool to me, go for it.

3k · January 30, 2005

Should I go ahead with the idea anyway?

I think you already probably know what you should do

Nothing wrong with placing a cache in a spot which speaks to you. Many of the arguments which surround the whole 'lame cache' notion have to do with the amount of thought which goes behind the placement (or lack thereof), and clearly, you've given this a lot of thought.

I say go for it. I hope your tree grows back someday.

7.2k · January 30, 2005

If you include a story and the reason for the cache then I think it would be a cool cache.

It sounds a little like the "progress" around here. What used to be a bird sanctuary is now soccer fields and a golf course. The only habitat left is the trail that runs through it.

1.2k · January 30, 2005

In the pic you posted I would strongly suggest removing the text from on top of the tree itself.

Actually the tree that does NOT have text is the correct tree.

There are 2 trees in the pic. Tne one on the right is the one that was the legend.

(That darn thing was hard to photograph effectively in real life, BTW)

2.2k · January 30, 2005

Great story, despite the sad ending. I think it would be a great cache if people take the time to read the story beforehand.

January 30, 2005

what Tigger said!

1.2k · January 30, 2005

I bet you would get some great logs with similar stories?

Now THERE is a clincher of a "Hey, go do it!" bit of encouragement!

I can hope that others have mixed feelings to share too.

I'll put it in place. It should be in within the next 3 weeks. Thanks, everyone!

January 30, 2005

Here is a little perspective for you on the old willow tree.

24.7k · January 30, 2005

...Well, err... technically, it WOULD be a boring micro stuck on an uninteresting bench somewhere...

Technically it would be a boring regular old lame micro cache. But only if you never took the time to hear the story you just told.

The cache is worth placing and the story worth telling. Your muse demands it, and your audience, the ones who will read and wonder, are your true kindred souls. The rest who will only find soggy knees, a bent back, a lame micro and who never take time to see through your eyes...well they will just go home with soggy knees and a lame find and that's reward enough.

January 30, 2005

Do it.

January 30, 2005

Cool.

January 30, 2005

Yeah... with the story, it's worth placing. If everyone who visits would take a photo of the current view, it could be very interesting. Maybe make that a condition of logging the cache?

Stu

1.2k · January 30, 2005

Wow, navdog, that's amazing! How do you search for that?

The current view would be that last one with no trees whatsoever and a lot of mud.

The way it WAS was some semi-boring-looking willow tree in a field of 4 to 5 feet tall grass... until you walked inside and discovered the magic.

This is all fodder for one heck of a good cache page.

January 30, 2005

Truely magnificent story that needs to be told because this is not isolated to any one area . We have that happening everywhere and we need to think about what we are losing , places to relax ,walk , play and just enjoy nature . I wonder why we are getting fat we have no where to go but into a big store and shop and in order to do that we have to work more to earn money to shop in that store now we don't have the time to get out and exercise , so the cycle continues . Sorry about the rambling .

January 30, 2005

I had the good fortune to visit the cache in question. I had on a suit and tie since I had come from a business meeting. I checked my luggage for the flight and took the light rail to the Mt Hood stop and walked to the cache to pick-up and drop off bugs. I had been to the first incarnation of the cache and was blown away by the new location. It was summer and the grass was very tall. Suddenly you were at the cache and I felt I had entered a different world. I have been telling cachers about that place ever since and was saddened to see it go away. A memorial cache is fitting. It was a most magical place.

January 30, 2005

Cut and paste the first post you did for this into the web page. You explained your purpose rather well. I would go for this one if it was close enough. Very cool idea.

1k · January 30, 2005

"Don’t it always seem to go

That you don’t know what you’ve got

Till it’s gone

They paved paradise

And put up a parking lot"

I agree with everyone else that it's a great story and well worth a micro as tribute.

Just yesterday I had chickadees eating out of my hand at a local park and thought to myself "How can anyone not recognize the soothing power of nature." There are few things in this world that can relieve stress as much as a simple walk through the woods.

1.2k · January 31, 2005

The cache that was there was my old "PDX Airport Travel Bug Lounge". I had thought I was going to move the cache... so I re-wrote the page. Then I decided it needed to be archived. Thus the inital record of that cache is messed up for posterity... but at least the logs are the same.

7.3k · January 31, 2005

Same sort of thing happening in my town.

We live in the "Apple Capitol of the World". (Wenatche, WA) If you have apples in your grocery store, chances are they are from our town. (Even more so for cherries.)

But you know developement, and competition from 3rd world countries.

So slowly, over my lifetime, some of the most beautiful and peaceful orchards have been brutally torn down to make way for developments and stores.

One street in our town is named "Cherry St." Kids nowadays would have no clue as to why it was named that. It is a long street, and when I was a kid, in the winter, you could drive up it at dusk and see whole herds of deer and elk bedding down for the night among the cherry trees. Now the whole street is new development with street names like, "Raineier", and "Bing", and stupid trys like that at molifying the people.

The worst one was a perfect orchard that had a small, curvy road going through it. It felt like the embodiment of all that was good and perfect in Wenatchee. I loved to drive through it, especially in the spring, when the apple blossoms were in bloom. Guess what they tore it out for? A Home Depot. It still hurts to think about it, and it always will.

What more can you do?

January 31, 2005

When I was a kid we moved from Burbank, Ca. to out side of Kent ,WA. and lived on an old farm that had been owned by an oriental family( there were lots of boxes, sacks and stuff with oriental writing in all the sheds).

There were plenty of barns, sheds and 13 acres of old crop rows to play in . In the winter there was a pond that filled up and we would dip little brine shrimp to feed the fish in our aquarium.

In the front yard was a great willow tree that had limbs that hung to the ground and when you entered it it was like an outdoor room. It was a great place to play in.

Now the street is 5 or 6 lanes wide and that 13 acres as well as all farmland on both side of the road are concrete warehouses and parking lots!

The only way to recognize where we lived is the gas station on the corner.

I loved that old tree!

Progress

1.3k · January 31, 2005

"magic room made out of birdsong and leaves"

NICE!!!!

We used to have a good sized willow tree in our backyard until the Blizzard of '93 hit the South.

The weight of 18+ inches of snow split it in half and it died.

It was the home to "two" sets of Mockingbirds!!

The most beautiful singing you've ever heard!!

Your quote above describes it PERFECTLY!!

We had some of the low hanging limbs cleared out from the underside and a yard swing placed under there.

Pull back the hanging limbs like a mystical curtain and just sit for hours in the evenings.

Our Secret Hide-away from the world!

Place the cache in memory of all long gone but not forgotten secret willow tree rooms everywhere!! :lol:

GOD, I MISS OUR SECRET HIDE-AWAY!!

D-man

1.2k · January 31, 2005

Wow. I will reference this thread and definitely dedicate the cache not to the particular magic willow room that was lost, but to all beautiful places lost to blades of bulldozers.

Didn't expect my little idea to have this much power.

Peace and rememberance to all who have lost beautiful secret nature places to development. You may come to "Reflections and Mixed Feelings" (my final name for the cache) in Portland and reflect if you wish, so that others may understand and know what you have lost the same way.

I'll try to have my new micro set up next week.

Edited January 31, 2005 by Sparrowhawk

January 31, 2005

I say go ahead and make it, those who like it, like it. Those who think it is lame, stil lwill log their find I'll bet.

January 31, 2005

A Home Depot is a crappy trade for a magical willow tree.

You should be really pissed off at your town's planning department.

Your cache will ask people to really THINK before they spend another dollar in those crappy big-box retailers. Where do they think that money is going?

February 1, 2005

Your cache will ask people to really THINK before they spend another dollar in those crappy big-box retailers. Where do they think that money is going?

Well let's see. The Home Depot near me employs 70 people. They paid $240,000 to the state of Ohio to have the roadway expanded. They pay county property taxes out the ying yang, from which we all benefit. Also each of those 7o people pays municipal income tax, state income tax, federal income tax. I could go on, but you get the point.

I hope that answers your question as to where the money is going. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, The stock holders get a share too. But then, shouldn't they? They are the ones who are risking their hard earned capital. Lest you think that stock holders are a bunch of rich fat cats who reap where they don't sow, keep in mind most stock holders are just ordinary people like you and I who maybe own an IRA which happens to be well invested and diversified.

Edited February 1, 2005 by dead_white_man

1.2k · February 2, 2005

The cache should be in this weekend, barring any unforseen curcumstances.

The hard part will be trying to maintain a rule of reflection rather than some flame fest on politics and the environment in the logs. We'll see what happens.

Edited February 2, 2005 by Sparrowhawk

1.2k · February 7, 2005

YAY! It's APPROVED!!!

3k · February 7, 2005

Sparrowhawk - the cache page looks good. I think you have captured the essence of what you have been discussing here. I probably won't ever be able to get out to find your cache, but I have put a watch on it to see what happens, and hopefully to see some pictures of the area as it appears now.

I hope the cache is a big success for you!

3.9k · February 7, 2005

I found your TB exchange in the willow tree back in March of 2004 on a trip from Atlanta. It was WAY cool. I was sad when I was looking back at caches much later to learn it had been archived.

February 7, 2005

"They paved paradise And put up a parking lot" Joni Mitchell, 1969

February 8, 2005

I think it would be lame NOT to make a cache where you stated. You obviously have emotions about the site, so why not draw others to feel the same thing you felt then, and are feeling now. Explain it like you did in your initial posting and you will not have any problems of that I am sure.

1.2k · February 8, 2005

Not bad but really annoying news... my 'ingenious' little micro setup failed. Gotta figure out a new way to keep that thing in place. It's disabled until I can get back to the site.

But the cache exists to START with, and that is the cool thing.

1.2k · February 14, 2005

OK... the cache is FINALLY up and running permanently. It's now a magnetic cache. I learned a lesson... velco and rain do NOT mix! :lol:

Now looking forward to the first story about the tree from another cacher.

Reflections and Mixed Feelings

Edited February 14, 2005 by Sparrowhawk

February 14, 2005

Developers are human turds..

I say "Do It" !!!

I think it's a GREAT idea !

February 14, 2005

go 4 it

February 14, 2005

What a cool idea for a cache! I hope we don't have to hide any of those around here... :lol:

Cache Idea: Lame Or Cool?

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