3 Months

On November 11, 2007, I broke my leg while jumping over a gate. My right leg planted and twisted and I went down. I knew I had done something wrong to my leg, but I thought I tore my ligaments again. This is the same leg in which I tore my MCL and ACL over 10 years ago. Fortunately, four of my friends were there and they got me to the ER pretty quickly. Turns out, I broke my tibia and fibula and also crushed my tibial plateau. I will be non-weight bearing for 3 months. This will be and has been tough for me, as I am a very independent person. I am also extremely active and always on the go. I won't be for the next 3 months.

The positive in this situation is that, once again, I have the opportunity to be reminded that I have some very good friends and an awesome family. I have had a tough year and my family and friends have been there every step of the way to get me through each crisis. Even though I have had what I would consider some "bad luck," I'm indeed lucky to have such wonderful people in my life. Joe, "The Pup," always tells me that "friends are the family we choose." He is right. Thanks to all the positive people in my life and here is hoping that 3 months go by quickly!

Our God is the God of mercy. For He works in mysterious ways and His power is over all things. Amen.

Follow the Leaders

This will be a very short post, as it will only serve to inform readers of the direction my future blog posts. I have decided to follow the leads of both B@shful and Dalls and remove negative posts from my blog site.

Leadership consists not in degrees of technique but in traits of character; it requires moral rather than athletic or intellectual effort, and it imposes on both leader and follower alike the burdens of self-restraint.
- Lewis H. Lapham

WWFM - Disorganized Flash: Collierville, TN

This was a great event...lots of fun! I arrived pretty early so that I could do some shopping, however, I met up with Cgeek and then Tinksdad. We stood around and talked for a while when Hoot Owl showed up. We continued talking and decided to move a little closer to the event as it was getting close to the start time. As we moved closer, we spotted Leavarock and stopped to talk to him. I guess everyone thought that the spot that we were standing was THE spot and they started moving towards us. Someone suggested that we split up as not to be so obvious. We were still kinda obvious, though. The "flash" point occurred when Bitbrain placed his bag on the ground and everyone (organized and disorganized) moved to that location from all over. Anyway, it was great meeting some new cachers and even better seeing some old cachers (Jamie) that I had not seen in a while. 76Stinger road in and brought gifts. I especially liked the wooden Munford celebrates coin. After the picture was taken, we dispersed and met back up for burgers. I really enjoyed the event and the group hunt that followed.

“A true friend freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably.” ~William Penn

Old Liberty Hill Haunted Adventure

I always love attending events outside the Memphis area, especially in Mississippi and Arkansas! This event was no exception. Lacey and Scott have put on two excellent events...one at Lake Enid and the other...this event. They really made this event worth the drive. They had:

A witch theme on the front porch
A cemetery in the side yard
The walk through the dead
Yet another cemetery in the next yard

A slaughter house maze

another haunted yard and the maze of death

A bonfire where we sat around and ate while listening to geo-chat

A cemetery cache run to grab caches in the spooky night

Finally, a group shot and goody bags!

A GREAT time was had by all that attended the event! I can't wait until next year...

'Tis the night - the night

Of the grave's delight,

And the warlocks are at their play;

Ye think that without

The wild winds shout,

But no, it is they - it is they.

~Arthur Cleveland Coxe

Turn of Events

I was on our GOWT forums today and I stumbled upon a post that was made a few weeks back by a person for whom I have a tremendous amount of respect. I actually decided that I really liked both he and his wife when we all attended a milestone event. This was a turning point for me since we had been on opposite sides of the fence before that point. His post read like this:

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to
listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger
does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

James 1:19-20, New International Version

Now in light of the recent posts that have been made by a certain member of GOWT/JAG, and how some of his posts have made me feel, I thought this quote was an extremely poignant and deserved a comment. It held a certain meaning to me. After starting my post, I realized that the GOWT forums would not be the appropriate place for the comment and I chose to post to my blog instead.

This was my post in the GOWT forum:

Just thought I would respond to this. But then I thought better of it. I'll save it for my blog.

Here is where the turn of events comes into play. Another member, I'll just refer to him as BobXYZ, read my post and starts ranting about how I was starting a fight in the forums. He decides to make a series of attacks (against forum guidelines) toward me and was first warned and then, when he continued his rant in a new thread, was finally banned from the site.

My post on this subject becomes even more meaningful. "Everyone should be quick to
listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires."

I hope I can keep these words in my heart and mind so that I may become slower to anger and quick to listen. I thank the person who posted this in the forums and I find it so ironic that in the very same forum thread, BobXYZ demonstrated why this quote is so important.

“My soul, sit thou a patient looker-on; Judge not the play before the play is done: Her plot hath many changes; every day Speaks a new scene; the last act crowns the play” ~Francis Quarles

Bachelor's Grove Cemetery

This small, abandoned graveyard in the southwest suburbs has been called the most haunted place in Chicago - and one of the most haunted places worldwide. The cemetery is located very close to where I grew up. The cemetery is located within the Rubio Woods Forest Preserve.

When I was a kid, my Girl Scout Troop went camping close to the cemetery. At night, the troop leaders told stories about the cemetery at night while sitting around the campfire. We were all freaked out! Some of the stories told that night were of a pond near the northwest corner, there is a tear in the fence, providing easy access to a quarry pond. This was once a pleasant swimming hole, however, it is now foul, dark, and covered with algae for much of the year. It is generally thought that at its bottom are many of the monuments missing from the cemetery. Though no specific incident is ever cited, it is said that 1920s gangsters used this as a location to dump bodies of murder vicitims - close enough to the city to be accessible with a short drive, but far enough to escape attention. Ghosts of a farmer and his horse are said to haunt the area by the pond. The story is that while plowing nearby, the horse panicked and bolted for no apparent reason, plunging into the pond and dragging the farmer with him. Weighted down by the plow, both drowned. The pair of ghosts have even been seen by forest rangers.

There are also tales of a "two-headed" ghost...

The best story told to us about at Bachelor's Grove is something that seems ordinary... a house.
There is no house near the cemetery, and no evidence that there has ever been one. Yet many visitors to the site have reported seeing a house, no more than a few hundred feet away. The location changes - sometimes it's across the path from the cemetery, sometimes it is seen further along the path, past the cemetery. The house is described as an old two-story white, wooden farmhouse with a porch, a porch swing, and a light from within. It looks completely real and solid; but those who have tried to approach it report that it seemed to move away as they approached, until it vanished. In other cases, the witness did not realize anything was odd about the house until they came back to the cemetery a second time and found it missing.
Our Girl Scout Leaders took us to the cemetery the day after telling us these (and other) stories and I have to say, my adrenaline was certainly pumping. One of the girls fell into an open grave...you should have heard her scream. On the walk back to the camp site, as we were walking along the road, a girl started screaming. We looked at her and saw that she had blood gushing from her forehead. We all thought a ghost did that to her. Turns out, she was probably struck in the head with a stone from a passing car.

On April 21st, 1989, just outside the entrance to Bachelor's Grove Cemetery, a body was found. Martin Myers, age 43, had been shot in the head and abdomen. Myers himself was a murder suspect, awaiting trial after having killed a man, Mark Tilton, by running him down with his truck. Eventually, the ex-girlfriend of both Myers and Tilton confessed to killing Myers; the killing was ruled a self-defense due to Myers' history of abuse.

I have been in this section of the Forest Preserve recently in search of caches. It still has the same effect on me. The adrenaline still pumps. I am constantly looking around curious about the source of every noise. I wonder what it would be like to do a night cache hunt in this area...

“The fence around a cemetery is foolish, for those inside can't get out and those outside don't want to get in.” -Arthur Brisbane

Searcy's 1st Ever Meet & Greet

I went to another great event on September 29th! This time the location was Searcy. It was Searcy's 1st Ever Meet & Greet. This event was hosted by Woodwalker9 and the Searcy Area Cachers. Cgeek and I arrived a little late...I'm NOT a morning person! We were welcomed so graciously by the hosts of the event and were introduced to the other cachers that we didn't already know.


The day was filled with fun and fellowship...the way it should be! There were many events in which to participate. I even won a door prize that I'm sure will make its way to a great Memphis hiding spot for some of my friends to find and log!

Some Activities Included:

A poker run-coordinates to be given out at time of sign in. Kids cache-Especially for those 12 and under. Searcykid has some special prizes for these young cachers and we are sure they will have a great time. GPS Accuracy Contest-Sign up when you arrive and get your coordinates and flag. Then go see how close you can place your flag to a predetermined spot. Workshops-KD5JNL will be holding a 45 minute Geocaching 101 workshop starting at 9:00 a.m. From 10:00 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. come learn all about going paperless. At 11:00a.m. Team Pink will hold a workshop on GSAK(Geocaching Swiss Army Knife). Geo-bingo-Get your bingo card when you sign in and then enjoy the fun trying to fill in the squares. Camo contest-Dress up a cache and win a prize. Travel Bug and Geocoins

A big Happy Birthday wish to Woodwalker and Ice Cream Man!!

“Let's take the good times as they go, and I'll meet you further on up the road...” Bruce Springsteen