“What is that crazy woman doing?” I said to Dave, as we approached the coordinates for the cache. He didn’t answer, as he was preoccupied with reading the hints for the cache. The woman continued to look intently at the ground beneath the tree and then sat down and looked even more intently at the ground, picking something up and examining it every once in a while.

“She looks homeless, poor thing. Probably been out all night, strung out on something or other.” In a few minutes, she got up and wandered down the street.

“I think the cache is just over here,” Dave said and he started rummaging in the bushes. I went over to where the woman had been and started looking at the ground.

“You two look like you are wandering around looking for wiliwili seeds,” a man walked up to me and said.

“What in the heck are wiliwili seeds?” I asked cautiously, letting my paranoia get the best of me and thinking we had wandered into the middle of a tourist scam. I grabbed my purse tighter and was glad I had left my credit cards and precious technology in the hotel room.

“They are little seeds that fall off this big tree you’re under … only at certain times of the year. They are bright red and people collect them to make jewelry,” he replied. He bent down and picked one up. “Here’s one. They are becoming quite rare and jewelry makers are finding it harder and harder to find them.”

Hmmmm … mystery solved. I felt like an eejit (as Dave would say). How quickly I forget the things I teach about checking one’s assumptions!