June 24 - Dreams In The Deep

Howard Phillips Lovecraft bolted upright in bed from a feverish dream that shook him to his core.  The year was 1919 and he'd endured a vision of horrifying scope and ominous portents.  In his dream, he was visiting a museum of antiquities and offered a small bas-relief sculpture that he himself had created depicting a vision from strange lost cities and dreams older than the Sphinx or ancient Babylon.  The sculpture portrayed a scaled creature with a vaguely humanoid shape, a face with a mass of writhing tentacles, dragon-like wings upon its back, and great clawed hands and feet.  

H.P. Lovecraft would go on to let this vision germinate into the timeless classic that would reveal the story of Cthulhu, one of the "Great Old Ones", a race of ancient deities who once ruled the earth to its near destruction millions of years ago.  Cthulhu's body rests in a fitful slumber beneath the southern Pacific ocean trapped in a sunken city, while his treacherous mind continues to influence the very worst of behavior in humankind.  His demonic lust for power pushes his influence into the minds of the most talented of humans to feed destructive thoughts in the sciences, madness in creative minds, and racism among leaders to divide people apart and break down harmony.  

Lovecraft's literary works strove to provide a warning to people that there are cosmic influences intruding upon our greatest and lowest minds constantly at work to pull us all down together.  Every day is a struggle for every human to overcome base urges, to seek peace, to promote harmony and growth.  Our very world is in the balance and some days it feels like the balance is being precariously tipped against us.  

When we spend time geocaching, walking the trails, climbing mountains, diving into the sea, and exploring deep into the crust of the world we are constantly seeing both the best and worst of human behavior.  We see neglect and refuse damaging our world, but then we see CITO efforts and trail building volunteers restoring what nature provides.  We see natural and unnatural disasters leaving devastation in their path, but then we see communities coming together to rebuild, restore, and revel in what can be accomplished together for common good.  From great acts involving multitudes it can seem obvious.  For an individual cacher, not so much.  Practicing the smallest acts like trading even or up, restoring a damaged container, or leaving helpful notes, these are acts of positivity that tip the scales of balance.  Our time is precious, our opportunities are few, so Cache While You Can, and take even small steps to improve your world, because you're part of something much bigger and other cachers are out there doing the same for you even if you never see them or hear of their deeds.  It takes us all and every moment counts.