Items spread out on a bedspread: the corner of Greg's backpack; an open package with a cassette case; four cassette tapes, one of which is labeled THESE TAPES HAVE EYES and another of which says GOODNIGHT PEOPLE; a zine with an apple, mandolin and music notes on the cover that says New Folk Country Rock lyrics and mando chords; a flattened envelope with several instant photos -- a woman's selfie with the caption HIIII, a bird's nest with the caption FOUND A BIRD'S NEXT, a house with the caption MY HOUSE, a kitten; and finally a treasure map.
Today there's a packet of pictures from a photo-swapping pen pal, several new tapes, and a new Gardenpath stash map from Rumibear.
Closer view of the map. In the upper left corner is a simple compass rose. In the middle of the top edge is a round shape with the letters OBS. There's a one-mile scale marker that indicates the area shown is about six miles across. Lines and shapes seem to depict wooded areas and walkways. In the lower left corner is the word TREES upside-down and partially crossed out. In the lower right corner is a small signature, Rumibear.
A which what from who now, you say? Let's start with Gardenpath, Maryland: suburb of the Capital, New Deal experiment, and my home town.
A walkway with two intersecting paths leading between rows of shrubbery and under small iron archways. In the distance is a lamppost, a wooded area, and a flat-roofed two-story house covered in ivy.
It really is like living in a garden.
Greg, wearing rubber gloves and holding a small map in one hand, crouched down on his knees and elbows and looking under a large manicured shrub.
Mapstashing: a hyperlocal treasure hunt, created by enthusiastic amateur puzzlemakers and cartographers like one Rumibear. I don't know his government name, but I do know where he lives.