Several years ago, a British illustrator by the name of Martin Handford came up with the idea to hide a somewhat daft looking character in crowd scenes to make people look more closely at his work while searching for the daft character in the picture.

Handford said, “I gave him that look because when I originally thought of the character who was lost in all those scenes, I just imagined the reason he was lost was because he was slightly idiotic and didn’t know where he was going.”

I am not sure why Miss Trixie gave me that “knowing look” after reading that statement but probably in admiration of my writing talents?

So the idea took root and soon the striped shirt, pompom topped hat character was appearing in a lot of places and became an international hit of sorts.

You would have to be from the moon not to recognize the Waldo character often hidden away in crowd scenes. And while he is known as “Charlie” in France, “Walter” in Germany, “Ali” in Turkey, “Efi” in Israel, and “Willy” in Norway, he is best known to us here in the good ole U.S. of A as “Waldo.”

Now while the creator’s intent to draw attention to his work may have been innocent in creation, the amount of time mankind has wasted while trying to find this “trainspotter” type person should be a crime.

No matter where Ol’ Dutch goes these days be it a doctor’s office, car dealership, restaurant or even Bass Pro Shops I am inundated by posters, magazines and decorations encouraging me to look for “Waldo” in some scene.

I am unsure what there is about looking for him that seems addictive but it’s like the other pictures people post online or in magazines wanting us to find the differences in two drawings or the owl hidden in a tree.

And just like some kind of mass “lemmings to the sea” type of response to crowd actions, we all spend countless hours looking for these hidden objects.

There must be something rewarding to our bodies much like the adrenaline rush people get when watching football and hence we are ever drawn to look more and more like some illicit drug consumption.

Ol’ Dutch, ever the caring and intuitive watchman over the human race to save them from wasted time and motion, has finally come to the rescue at least in a small part concerning “Waldo.”

On a recent sojourn into Kansas to hunt the elusive whitetail deer, Ol’ Dutch decided to treat Miss Trixie and show her the extent of his knowledge and in doing so, show all of you my readers a secret that will save you countless wasted hours looking for a striped-shirted clown.

I had been fortunate enough to get a deer one morning and needing Miss Trixie's help to load it, came back to the hunting cabin to get her. Being the efficient labor saving person that I am, I took the most direct route back to the deer which took us past a small town that sports five houses, six dogs and a herd of stray cats.

Upon approaching the town I was suddenly hit with creative juices and humanity saving emotions and instantly stopped the truck to snap this photo for all of you.

No thanks is necessary on your part as I get my pleasure in knowing I am saving humanity from wasted effort better served doing constructive work. And, now, when people ask, “Where’s Waldo,” you, my dear readers, can now say in the middle of a corn field in Kansas.

Kevin Kirkpatrick and his Yorkie, Cooper, fish, hunt, ATV or hike daily. His email is [email protected]. Additional news can be found at www.troutrepublic.com or on Twitter at TroutRepublic.