There are many variants of the items listed in "The 12 Days of Christmas". The gift most typically given on the seventh day is a group of swans a swimming. In fact, according to my extensive research (I read most of the Wikipedia article), there has only been a single deviation. In a 1900 issue of the Journal of American Folk-Lore, a version of the song written down in 1800 by one Lydia R. Nichols of Salem, Massachusetts contained the line "Seven squabs a swimming".
A squab (pictured in the background image) is a young pigeon, generally in the stage of the bird's life before it can fly. It also refers to the meat derived therefrom. If you're wondering who would ever give seven pigeons as a gift to anyone outside of a joke or possibly an office white elephant exchange, I have no idea.
What does all this have to do with this cache? Absolutely nothing. You're going on a seven stage trip around Mickie Gordon Park in Loudoun County.
S1: Start at the posted coordinates. Squabs don't like big cats, but these two are helpful. Ignore spaces and lone letters and then solve the following simple substitution:
34 9 24 13 35 36 19 17 2 11 5 6 28 16
S2: WELCOME to the second stage. The squabs like to perch on high points and daydream:
lul' @ lmt.Ct°
S3: Argh! The squabs are frustrated; they came here to take a break, but there's some kind of mesh and now they can't get in. Oh well. Do some counting, you square, and help them find something else made of a mesh.
[width * height + 541], [(width + height) * 15]
S4: Fly over this and you've flown over this. A smidge of baseball knowledge and a little repositioning will help you here.
(x + 100)' @ (x - 100)°
S5: Speaking of creatures that "fly"... perch for a spell to watch the pitch. What things are you sitting on? Count the rows where squabs could land... or the letters in what this is. They're the same number!
lat + lon = 107x
lat - lon = 14x + 1
S6: Do you feel like you're going against the grain?
+0 -4 . +3 -5 -5 / +0 -6 . -3 -7 +5
Congratulations to BristowCacher, Gaiterman, and NutmegBrownie for the group FTF!
A holiday treat from all of us at NoVAGO! The 2014 Cachemas in NoVAGO Series is a 13-part journey based on the 12 Days of Christmas that will take you on a tour of Northern Virginia. From Arlington to Purcellville to McLean and beyond, happy holidays from NoVAGO to you!
Each cache in the 2014 Cachemas Series can be found individually, but make sure you collect the clue inside. You'll need it to find the 2014 Cachemas Bonus! The clue is hidden in plain sight in each container and is in the format "[+-]#.### [+-]#.###". More details can be found on the Bonus cache page.
