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Shaggy Dog stories have been around since ancient Greece, and most likely longer. Traditionally, a shaggy dog story involves a long, often detailed narrative ending in an unexpected, often irrational, and supposedly humorous final sentence. One form of the genre features a story which may seem serious and sincere, completely ridiculous or somewhere between. The punch line usually mishandles a well-known quote, adage, title, or song lyric so that there is some sort of pun or play on words that makes no real sense but still relates to the story. For example, most of us have sung about "Little Bunny Foofoo hoppin' through the forest, scoopin' up the field mice an' boppin' 'em on the head." The Blue Fairy comes down, admonishes Bunny's behavior and gives him three chances to mend his ways upon pain of being turned into a goon. Of course, over the next three days, Bunny ignores the Blue Fairy, squanders his chances, and is changed into a goon. The moral of the story? "Hare today, goon tomorrow."
To learn the the end of the following shaggy dog story, you will need to look for it on the cache container.
Between Chincoteague and Assateague Islands, the road bridges a channel. Crabbers, cyclists, walkers, beach goers, and shore birds all frequent the bridge. One October, our family spontaneously decided to take a weekend vacation to the resort area. As we crossed the bridge on our way out to enjoy the sun, sand, and sea, we noticed some rather peculiar conduct on the part of the Least Terns, crow-sized birds that love to sit on the rails and soar around the channel. Their flight was erratic, landings were inept, and perching seemed to be a concern for them. On Assateague, we asked rangers if they had observed this rather unusual behavior.
"Oh, yes," they explained. "It happens every year. There are still some fruit trees here and there from the time when the island was populated and cultivated. No one harvests the apples now, so the fruit simply ferments. But every bird knows where every tree grows, and they all overindulge on the rotten fruit."
"So you're telling us that of all those birds on the bridge, not a single one is sober."
"Not a one. In spite of all the Park Service's efforts to find and eliminate the remaining apple trees, every autumn that sourmash __________________________.
Least Tern
Small cache in a regular host.