Have you ever stood looking out the window and marveled at how powerful nature really is?  It was late October but we were getting a summer-like pounding from the weather.  The winds were up to sixty miles per hour.  Many had lost power due to trees falling from the force of the wind.  As I stood gazing out the patio doors I was thankful I had a solid home where I could be safe from the havoc I beheld.

Wife:  “I’m bored.  Let’s go do a few caches.”

Have you ever notice some people are oblivious to their surroundings? 

Me:  “Have you observed what the weather is like?”

Wife:  “Are going to let a little breeze stop you from going outside?  I didn’t realize you were that big a whimp.  Would you like to go cower in the basement?  Maybe you should go down there and hide under a mattress or…..”

Me:  “Alright, alright, I’ll see if there are some quick ones we can do.”

I found a cache named “The Snowflake Troll”, and from what I could determine looking at the maps, it didn’t seem too far to walk in the hurricane.  Off we went to the area.  After I parked I saw it was over a quarter of a mile walk.  I mistakenly mentioned it was too far for her to try under the conditions.

Wife:  “What’s that supposed to mean?  I’m not the sissy trying to stay in the car.  Why don’t you stay here while I struggle to the cache?  Don’t worry about me, I’m sure I can make it on my own.  You stay right here nice and safe from the big bad breeze.”

As we were walking down the path the wife had a death grip on me.  The combination of strong winds and her slight frame made it almost impossible for her to stand without support.  With the speed of a tortoise who recently sprained all his legs we made our way up the steep climb to the GZ.  We arrived at the top of a hill by a bridge.  Being out in the open and at such a elevation there was nothing to hinder the wind from beating us into its will.  I led the wife to a handhold on the bridge so I could look for the cache unfettered.   I no sooner turned away to begin my search, when instantly I heard a chilling scream.  I looked to the sound and saw the wife being blown down the path like a tumbleweed.  It was an impressive sight to see.  The wind effortlessly somersaulted her down the bridge and into the fields. 

As awestruck as I was, I had the presence of mind to chase after her.  As I got near, the problem of how to stop her momentum raced through my mind.  Has a piece of paper ever blown out of your hand and you chased it in a futile attempt to get it back? Then you had the brilliant idea to stop it by stomping on it with your foot.  Well, that’s what I did.  Not stomp on her of course, but on her coat.  With my foot securely pinning her coattail to the ground all the wind could do was to make her flutter like a flag.  It was a stroke of genius.  To the wife it was the dumbest thing anyone had ever had done.  I explained to her how I had to think of something quickly or I may never have seen her again.

Me:  “Just curious, but why on earth would you let go of the bridge?”

Wife:  “My eyes were watering and I was getting a Kleenex out of my pocket.”

Me:  “Just a thought, but in hindsight, don’t you think you may have been better off waiting until I had found the cache and was able to hold onto you again?”

Wife:  “That’s just like you.  I can’t do anything right, can I?  You think everything has to be done your way.  Well, I can manage just fine by myself.”

Me:  “Of course, you’ll get no argument from me.  I’m sure you would have stopped rolling once you got into the woods.  Lots of trees to halt your forward motion.”

Wife:  “Just pick me up smarty pants, and lets go get the cache.”

Well, we did make the find with her holding on to me like a potential drowning victim.  Then we made our way back to the car.  Going to the cache was with the wind, coming back we felt the full furry of its wrath.  When I explained how slow our travel was before, I didn’t realize it was a sprint compared to the speed of our return trip.  A few months later we were back in the safety in the car.  I had had enough and headed home.

Wife:  “Admit it, I was right wasn’t I?”

Me:  “Right about what?”

Wife:  “Wasn’t that fun?”

By nanncyan

The wife and I have been geocaching about three years now.  We enjoy the exercise and great scenery.  We are surprised by the parks that we never knew exsisted right in our own back yard.  We live in Comstock Park Michigan.  We are fortunate to have thousands of caches within a short drive.  We are recently retired and plan to cache around the country.  Who knows maybe we will be in Washington next July for GW VIII!  Our goal is to keep geocaching fun.  I hope our stories relate that to others.

Marvin Altena