December 2014 is just getting started and already some memorable events have occurred.
- A record-setting 4.16-pound white truffle has sold for $61,250 at a New York City auction.
- This year could be the UK's warmest for almost 250 years as measured by the world's oldest temperature record, say researchers.
- According to the National Weather Service office in Los Angeles, rainfall on Dec. 2 in downtown Los Angeles was 1.21 inches, setting a new record for that date. Additionally, the Los Angeles International Airport recorded a record-breaking 1.12 inches of rainfall. In Santa Barbara even more rain fell, where a record-breaking total measured was 2.14 inches. Records were also set on Dec. 2 in Lancaster Fox Field, Calif. with 1.14 inches of rain, Sandberg with 1.49 inches, Palmdale with 1.20 inches, the Long Beach Airport with 1.04 inches, and the Fullerton Airport, with 0.58 inches.
- Jacob Chemtai, a Kenyan who lives in Santa Fe, won the 32nd annual California International Marathon in 2:12:02 and Volha Mazuronak of Belarus set a course record to win the women's race in of 2:27:34.
- On December 11 & 12 records were set in Stockton and Modesto for the most rainfall in a 24-hour period. Stockton received 2.26" of rain and Modesto received 2.6" of rain. Its hard to believe that places like Healdsburg didn't set records even though they got more than 5.5" of rain! This cache saw 3.86" of rain!
2013’s December was one for me to remember; I found 254 caches that month, more than ever before. This year I am set to beat that record! I challenge you to keep it going. Make this month better than ever before. Find more caches this December than your highest find count any previous December. That’s it. Simple, right? I realize that some people won’t find this cache in time to make 2014’s December one to remember, so any future December will work just as well. So, get out there and find some caches!. Remember, have fun and keep on caching.
There is an easy way for you to see what you must do in order to qualify. Just go to your public profile on geocaching.com and click on the statistics tab. There you will find a chart with your finds by month. Hover the mouse over each bar to see the month/year and the number of finds. In your find log please state the number of finds for your “December to Remember” and the next highest previous December. Don’t forget to state the years that you made those finds.
“The fine print”: In the Challenge cache guidelines: "Challenge geocaches cannot include restrictions based on 'date found'; geocaches found before the challenge geocache publication date can count towards the achievement of the challenge." Which means that if, for instance, a cacher found more caches in December 2011 than in all previous Decembers, they would qualify for the challenge. Please realize, the Decembers that you are considering must be within the time that you were a geocaching.com member. You must have at least one previous December with at least one cache find.
I had a goal for 2014 of hiding caches on days when the month and date match. I hid one cache on 1/1, two caches on 2/2, three caches on 3/3, and so on. It was hard work but I was able to keep it up all year. This is one of my twelve December hides. Thanks to all the cachers who have found my caches and sent messages of support and praise.