I was having lunch with one of the guys from work and he told us this story which was the coolest thing I've heard in ages and thought I'd share it with you all.
So this weekend, this guy decides to redecorate the backyard and his 3 kids (ages 5 - 12) are going to help. This includes moving a few statues around as well as digging up plants and digging holes for some new plants.
During one point of the day, one of the kids is digging and hits a wooden object. Its pretty solid and he gets excited and calls his siblings over to check it out. The youngest started saying its pirate treasure but the oldest said that was crazy. Nonetheless, they go crazy trying to figure out what they've uncovered. Turns out it was a layer of wood that was buried but underneath that they found an old cloth pouch that was filled with stuff. Inside they found a book on cryptology as well as a letter written in a cryptic language. They asked dad about it and he told them that maybe they should read the book and see if they could figure it out. And so the kids decide to figure out this puzzle and even got one of the neighborhood friends to help out.
Later that night they thought they had figured it out and when they put the letter together, it made no sense. Everyone went to bed a little frustrated. But the next morning they worked at it some more and figured it out. The letter basically stated "everyone knows that pirates always bury their treasure a little deeper then the clues they leave behind. Keep digging". And so off run the kids to the backyard and start digging once again.
Again they encounter a layer of wood. But underneath the wood they discover a pirate's chest!!! They hurredly remove the chest and open it up to discover it was full of old coins and jewelry. A pirate's booty here in San Diego!!!
Now the neighborhood kids are all asking their parents if they can dig up their back yards.
Now the real story...
Five years ago when his wife was pregnant with their 3rd child, dad figured he'd do something cool for his kid's future. Being a coin collector he had a few hundred dollars worth of old coins sitting around. He started visiting coin shops and buying up all sorts of other coins in batches and pretty soon had upwards of $500 worth of old coins from all over the world. He added a bunch of cheap costume jewelry to the mix and placed it all in an old wooden chest. He had learned the Freemason's secret code back in school and decided to write a cryptic letter. He found an old book on cryptic languages, including the Freemasons, and bundled that up in an old sack along with the coded letter. He then dug a deep hole in the backyard, buried the chest and then placed a layer of wood on top of that. Slightly above that he placed the sack containing the letter and book and covered that up with a layer of wood as well. Top it off with some dirt, some fresh sod for the backyard, a gaudy garden statue to sit on top of the site and everything was set. All he had to do was wait a few years.
Now is this the coolest story ever??? He's still deciding as to whether or not he should tell his kids that he is the pirate.
So this weekend, this guy decides to redecorate the backyard and his 3 kids (ages 5 - 12) are going to help. This includes moving a few statues around as well as digging up plants and digging holes for some new plants.
During one point of the day, one of the kids is digging and hits a wooden object. Its pretty solid and he gets excited and calls his siblings over to check it out. The youngest started saying its pirate treasure but the oldest said that was crazy. Nonetheless, they go crazy trying to figure out what they've uncovered. Turns out it was a layer of wood that was buried but underneath that they found an old cloth pouch that was filled with stuff. Inside they found a book on cryptology as well as a letter written in a cryptic language. They asked dad about it and he told them that maybe they should read the book and see if they could figure it out. And so the kids decide to figure out this puzzle and even got one of the neighborhood friends to help out.
Later that night they thought they had figured it out and when they put the letter together, it made no sense. Everyone went to bed a little frustrated. But the next morning they worked at it some more and figured it out. The letter basically stated "everyone knows that pirates always bury their treasure a little deeper then the clues they leave behind. Keep digging". And so off run the kids to the backyard and start digging once again.
Again they encounter a layer of wood. But underneath the wood they discover a pirate's chest!!! They hurredly remove the chest and open it up to discover it was full of old coins and jewelry. A pirate's booty here in San Diego!!!
Now the neighborhood kids are all asking their parents if they can dig up their back yards.
Now the real story...
Five years ago when his wife was pregnant with their 3rd child, dad figured he'd do something cool for his kid's future. Being a coin collector he had a few hundred dollars worth of old coins sitting around. He started visiting coin shops and buying up all sorts of other coins in batches and pretty soon had upwards of $500 worth of old coins from all over the world. He added a bunch of cheap costume jewelry to the mix and placed it all in an old wooden chest. He had learned the Freemason's secret code back in school and decided to write a cryptic letter. He found an old book on cryptic languages, including the Freemasons, and bundled that up in an old sack along with the coded letter. He then dug a deep hole in the backyard, buried the chest and then placed a layer of wood on top of that. Slightly above that he placed the sack containing the letter and book and covered that up with a layer of wood as well. Top it off with some dirt, some fresh sod for the backyard, a gaudy garden statue to sit on top of the site and everything was set. All he had to do was wait a few years.
Now is this the coolest story ever??? He's still deciding as to whether or not he should tell his kids that he is the pirate.
love it!
