Treasure

A boy's heart is a wonderful thing. Every trip is an adventure, a question, a silly joke. The entire world is uncharted territory and there is treasure buried under every rock, waiting to be found in every creek, and he has been given the map.

We have been geocaching for some time now. The draw for Carolyn and I was that it gave us a carrot on a stick to keep the kids moving while hiking. The draw in geocaching lies in having the means to find something that a lot of others miss. Even with all of the information and a trusty piece of space-age technology (GPS) the treasue is elusive. Hidden away beneath the muck of rain soaked brush and dirt or stuffed in a place that no sane person would stick their hands, the treasure waits for just the right person to find it. Children are amazing at geocaching.

Today, we took a hike in our local nature area and I brought the GPS along. I have failed to find this particular cache on several other outings and thought it was time to try again. Mention a treasure hunt and Wyatt goes insane. He finds them most of the time, either on his own or with a little help from us, he is the master treasure hunter. But, on this beautiful California foothill day, he wasn't the first to find the prize.

We spent a few minutes looking when Violet, our three-year-old, said, "look what I find [sic]." Sure enough she had found the cache. In the small canister there was a single poker chip. The rules are: if you find something you can keep it as long as you leave something else. Since there was only one prize and Violet was the one to find it, it was hers. Wyatt freaked.

We've gotten through the initial stage of shock regarding this journey. We are getting better at analyzing our needs and our wants, we have trimmed the budget down significantly and we are clearing out more clutter from our lives everyday. Lately however, I have begun to re-think this whole thing. Why are we doing this anyway? Are we just doing it to be cool, or to piss off our families, or because we're really cheap? Also, is any of this going to really make a difference? Are we going to be any different at the end of this thing? Is there an end to this thing? Are we being too rigid, not rigid enough...

When I stand back and look at this whole thing from afar it becomes clear. It's a treasure hunt. There is something bigger and more worthwhile in life than stuff, than the next big thing, than consuming. There is an elusive treasure in this world that most people miss. Some people stumble upon it, like Violet. Some people embody it, like Jesus and Ghandi. Some people look hard for it, like Walden. Some of us are still looking for it and crushed when we miss it, like Wyatt.

Wyatt learned an important lesson today. It's hard to find the treasure. Sometimes others will stumble on it and it doesn't seem fair, but the truth is...it can be easy to step over when you're looking too hard for it.

My son gave me a gift today. A reflection of myself. I'm thinking this thing to death. I need to slow down and live it now. Carolyn saw a bumper sticker the other day that poked fun at all the "I'd Rather Be..." sayings floating around. It said, "I 'd rather be living right here, right now." Good advice. I'm going to bed.