At least not this week! I’m finally finding the time to plan a new geocache, and I’m very excited about it. As usual (for me), it will be a multi-stage cache, taking cachers on a tour of some of Provincetown and Truro (Massachusetts) history.
The centerpiece is the story that the local history museum tells — with a straight face, if that can be believed. When the Mayflower arrived, its first stop was here in Provincetown, before the colonists moved on to Plymouth. They had a tough first winter, and were close to starving when they came upon a cache — no pun intended — of corn that the local native tribe, the Wampanoag, had put aside for their own sustenance. The pilgrims were ecstatic to “find” this corn, consumed it, and lived to see another season. We have no records of how many Wampanoag didn’t make it because of the settlers’ theft.
It’s a bit of local lore that gets brushed aside when tourists flock to Provincetown, as they are now, and that deserves to be known. And anyone doing my new geocache will learn about it … and more!
Like much of “American” history, we need to know both what is wonderful and what is less wonderful about our heritage. Opening our hearts means more than just looking for happiness; it’s finding joy in understanding everything we need to understand in order to learn from the mistakes of the past … and tread lightly on the earth now.
Jeannette Cézanne
Open Your Heart with Geocaching
Posted by: Geocaching, Opening the heart, Being Peace — jcezanne
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