Welcome to the Frederick Puzzler's Corner!
This is a monthly event to encourage puzzle solving in the geocaching community, and all are welcome.
August 7th is National Lighthouse Day.
National Lighthouse Day honors and commemorates a beacon of light that symbolizes safety and security for boats and ships at sea and inland waterways. Over the years, lighthouses have saved many ships, and an untold number of lives.
On August 7, 1789, through an Act of Congress, the United States Federal Government took over responsibility for building and operating our nation's lighthouses. The government recognized the importance of lighthouses as navigational aids. These structures improved the odds of maneuvering through or around dangerous shoals, rocks and reefs, and marked safe entrance into harbor. Lighthouses provide a marker or light in good weather and bad, daylight and night. Today all the lights and lenses, as well as many of the structures, are managed by the United States Coast Guard (USCG), while the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 has allowed the transfer of building ownership to go to local governments or private non-profit groups.
Lighthouses were designed so that they could easily be identified in daylight or dark. The type of structure (conical or square tower, screw pile, caisson, etc.), the colors and patterns on the building, and the roof color are all, in any given combination, unique to one particular light. A building’s color scheme can range from solid colors to horizontal blocks or stripes, diagonal stripes, or diamond patterns, while the roofs are often either black, red or silver. These are the daylight markers that tell a navigator where he is along a coastline.
Similarly, each lighthouse has it’s own unique identifying light pattern for night. If you watch the sweep of a light across the horizon for a while, you can pick out the pattern for it, and depend on that pattern later to tell you that this is where you are along a coastline. One light might have a single sweep that repeats every 15 seconds, while another could have two flashes 2 seconds apart, with a third flash 5 seconds later, and the pattern would repeat after another 10 seconds.
With the advent of radar and GPS technology, lighthouses have taken a back seat in guiding ships to port. However, they remain the universal symbol of safe harbor to ships and communities that rely upon the sea for their livelihood.
There are numerous local and national lighthouse preservation societies and lighthouse organizations. They serve to preserve and promote lighthouses and their historical significance to communities and to the nation. Would you like to be a light keeper for a night? Some lighthouses have been converted to a sort of working B&B, and yes, the visitor may need to perform daily or nightly tasks to keep the light burning brightly. What better way to get a feel for the life of a lightkeeper!
And now, for the usual spiel…
This event is open to all cachers, no matter what your statistics say or whether you even like puzzles! So newbies and addicts, socialites and lone wolves, mark you calendar.
If you've got a puzzle or mystery cache that's currently got you stumped and you'd like to pick some brains, this event is for you! Zombies are not welcome here though, so please leave your pets at home - we want everyone to leave with the brains they brought, at minimum.
This event has evolved to a think-tank type gathering, with everyone collaborating on the latest tantalizing quizzler on their radar. Occasionally there may be a short tutorial on some aspect of puzzle solving, but the learning seems to come from working with one another to solve a teaser. You don't have to work on puzzles to enjoy this, as there are plenty of stories to be heard. However, you'll have plenty of others to commiserate with, or maybe find someone who has already solved a puzzle using a similar technique. We continue to see successes and progress at each gathering.
For the puzzle junkies, bring your puzzle paraphenalia - cache listings, laptop or tablet (Wi-Fi is available), theories, worksheets, (sp)eye glasses, HTML color code charts, Enigma machine, abacus, scratch paper (don’t forget your writing instrument) - you never know who (or what!) will show up, and what kind of help you might encounter. Maybe you’ve recently cracked a tough one and want to see the wheels spinning while others tackle it - that can be loads of fun! Yes, we have regular head-slapping moments!
If you have a topic you'd like to learn more about, or have a specific puzzle you'd like help with, feel free to make note of it in your Will Attend log.
When & Where:
Tuesday, August 7, 2018, 6pm - 8pm
Wegman's Market Cafe
7830 Worman's Mill Road
Frederick, Maryland
If you also bring your appetite, all costs are your own responsibility.
Field trips not included.