Roots, Shoots, and Ghosts Traditional Cache
Roots, Shoots, and Ghosts
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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The cache is NOT hidden in the nearby cemetery. It is not necessary to move, break, or destroy anything. Please be respectful of the area. You are looking for a camouflaged cylindrical plastic bottle 11 cm in height, 6 cm in diameter. It contains a logbook, pencil, and small SWAG. Please try to replace it exactly as found. Watch out for ghosts.
The landowner has kindly given permission to geocache on this land.
After parking please be careful walking along the roadway to the wooden steps which lead to the cemetery.
Or look for the path leading up the bank, well before the steps. This way is safer.
I used to have a tree fort as a boy. Actually I had lots of them. I liked to think about what my forts would be like when I was older and the tree had grown taller. Of course, I never considered the boards rotting, the tree decaying, termites and such, but boy would the tree fort be way up there.
In high school I had my first in depth study of biology and learned about the apical meristem in plants. These are embryonic cells at the tips of the roots and tips of the shoots or branches. They are undifferentiated, analogous to stem cells in our bodies. At some point they will differentiate to become a specific type of cell in a tissue or organ of the growing plant. However the main function of the meristem is to increase the length of the plants branches and roots during the growing season. I memorized this fact, but did I really grasp its meaning? Could I apply it to a real life situation?
My “aha” moment came when I began taking elementary and high school students on field trips at SUNY Oneonta’s Biological Field Station. We did ecological trail walks and pond studies with the students. Before leading any trips, one of my professors walked the trails with me to give me some guidance and interesting points to bring up along the way. We came to a series of basswood trees guarding the edge of the road. There was some barbed wire imbedded several inches into the trees’ trunks which must have been there for decades. He indicated that this was a great example of how trees grow in length from tips of their branches. It was a good spot to stop and question the students about this discrepancy.
The light came on! The barbed wire would have been over my head, if my childhood tree fort theory was correct. I didn’t let on (until now), but man, did I feel stupid for never making that connection. Thanks Dr. Harman, for another theory by Mr. Science proved wrong.
What does this have to do with a geocache?
***Ground Zero has an exceptional example of this concept.***
While you’re here you will notice a small cemetery next to the cache site. Take a look inside. This is known as Lynes’ Cemetery. It marks the graves of two soldiers from our past. One is the resting place of Thomas Ransom, a Revolutionary War soldier, who was a lieutenant in the Vermont Militia. Also, the grave of William Lynes is marked as being a veteran, most probably of the Civil War, based on his birth date. He would have been in his early twenties when the war began.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
*** Lbh unir vg nyernql! ***