A Message from Rennelle

Posted on March 12, 2014 by waterhigh

Warrior2

Our good wishes to Rennelle continue.

THIS IS A THANK YOU NOTE TO EVERYONE FROM RENELLE-

Please accept my apologies for the tardiness of this response to the overwhelming gift of the raffle proceeds. I was away for awhile, and although I tried mightily to finish all of the thank-you cards and messages before I left, I didn’t quite succeed. My lack of a timely reply, however, in no way reflects the amount of my gratitude.

A cancer patient has a lot of different weights on his or her shoulders. In my case, there is the constant out-of-state travel to medical appointments, the daily battle to continue some sort of normality through the fog and sickness caused by years of chemotherapy, and, of course, the reality of the never-ceasing medical bills.

In a single, combined effort from all of you, one of my weights was lifted. To each and every person who participated in the raffle, please accept my heartfelt thanks for your contributions.

Many of you promoted the raffle on your respective blogs, and I want to thank you all for your work on my behalf. It would be logical to assume that so many searchers looking for a single prize would be ultra-competitive with each other! That may be, but you are also community-minded and came together to pull off an event that was successful beyond anyone’s imagination. You all have my respect, my admiration, and most of all, my thanks.

I’d also like to thank the Collected Works Bookstore and Dorothy Massey, who offered a lovely setting in which to host the raffle event. Suzanne Somers offered her support in the days leading up to the event, and I was humbled and grateful to receive her beautiful message. The lovely and gracious Ali McGraw was kind enough to participate in the drawing, and I was so very appreciative of her willingness to lend us her time. Thanks also to Toby Younis, who used his professional abilities to record the raffle event and stream it live. I watched it from my chemo chair and couldn’t contain my smiles.

Every day for several weeks, Dal Neitzel donated so much time to the raffle process that I doubt he ever slept! Dal, I am so appreciate of all your hard work and selfless efforts.

The incomparable Forrest Fenn turned his raffle idea into reality, as he has done with countless other ideas throughout his lifetime. This time, however, it was for my benefit, and for that, I give him my endless gratitude. Thank you, Forrest. You remain my hero.

Thank you all so very much, and I hope to see you on the trail!

Renelle

______________________________________________________

Click here for her story in Forrest Fenn’s words.

What If?

Posted on February 5, 2014 by waterhigh

Oh, no!

Forrest thinks “The treasure may be discovered sooner than I anticipated.”

{Here’s a link to Jenny Kile’s blog where you’ll find her new Six Questions with Forrest Fenn, and the above quote.}

Ever get that sinking feeling? How will we searchers feel once the treasure chest is found?

Forrest Fenn’s Treasure Chest

Early on, I emailed Forrest and asked him not to give out any good clues until I got a chance to head west. (Beginner’s Confidence. Some of you know what I mean.)

Then, after a month or two of ridiculously obsessed behavior, I actually wished someone would find it. I wanted my life back.

(Okay. That didn’t last too long.)

I’ve wavered back and forth since then.

It hasn’t even been a year of chasing for me. I think I first heard of The Thrill of the Chase last March or April. But I don’t want it to end.

Not yet.

Serendipity II — Right Time, Right Place, Right Stuff

Posted on February 4, 2014 by waterhigh

How much pure luck or chance do you think it will take to find Forrest Fenn‘s “blaze“?

So often, it’s the unanticipated that turns out to be the treasure.

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A full moon.

A shuttle launch.

A fortunate location.

Inquiring Minds

Posted on January 22, 2014 by waterhigh

Another Q & A with Forrest Fenn

I’d been considering lately what other questions I could ask Mr. Fenn. I know clue/hint type questions are out, as well as topics he’d like to keep private. What to ask, what to ask?

One item that piqued my insatiable curiosity came from a recent comment on another blog —- Douglas Preston was originally going to write the ‘Thrill of the Chase’ story.

Wow. Was that true? Was it going to be 85% fiction or 85% memoir, I wondered.

I’ve read four of Preston’s books now, and I’ve got to say …. Well, I think I won’t. Just be prepared for a little horror with your mystery/thriller reading experience.

Click on the Q & A Heading/Round Two to learn more.

Forrest Fenn’s Treasure Chest

Don’t you wonder if THE POEM would have been easier to solve if someone else had been the one trying to keep the secret?

Wind, Sand and Stars

Posted on December 10, 2013 by waterhigh

Yes, it’s the title of a book by the author of The Little Prince. Antoine de Saint-Exupery was a pilot not unfamiliar with the Sahara.

I’d only learned of the book back in high school because of a friend in the next town reading it in french class. (My little school only offered 2 years of spanish.)

I stopped at 2 libraries yesterday to find a copy of The Little Prince. The 2 copies at the first one were nowhere to be found. The second library, rather new and planted absolutely Too Far for anyone To Walk to, had none. When I said I thought it was a classic, he said they didn’t really carry the classics. Something to do with only putting brand new books in there, ones with tracking chips. New World.

I stopped at my friend’s. She looked for her french and german copies but thinks her sons may have them. Not that my french and german are that adequate anymore, but there are on-line translators, right? (See Forrest Fenn’s Scrapbook # 47.

Okay. I do have a copy or two myself—-in a box, in a barn, inaccessible at the moment, and I wanted to read it now.

I’d tried my Kindle, but it wasn’t available for download. Last stop last night on my way home, Barnes and Noble. Yay.

Oh.

It’s a new translation. New cover.

Cover via Amazon

Choice: Paperback. Hardcover. Set with recording by Viggo Mortenson. Very tempting that, but I went with the cheapest version.

Okay. Why go to all this trouble for a book I read ages ago?

Let me try to explain how mind mind works:

Mind Map ….. Free Association ….. Word Play

Case in point —-

Since Forrest used the word “fling” in his talk at Moby Dickens,

and reading the story of the sunken storage jar in Too Far To Walk,

and my earlier reading of Thunderhead, with its kivas,

and remembering the snakes writhing in the Indiana Jones movie,

Plant in White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, USA. The plant’s roots hold a pillar of sand in place, while the surrounding sands are shifted by wind erosion.

and someone I know opening the door to an old underground bunker at White Sands, intending to descend until he saw the floor moving; again, a mass of writhing snakes,

and finding a place called Snakeden Hollow,

and buying snake boots after stirring up a snake while morel hunting, actually, I should use a hiking staff instead of my bare hands to rake through leaves next to fallen trees next time.

Oops. Getting off point there …. but, okay. You get the idea.

So, I couldn’t remember the details of the story but I knew there was a snake and a star and a desert involved in the sad conclusion of The Little Prince.

“What makes the desert beautiful,” said the little prince, “is that somewhere it hides a well….”

So, back to “fling”.

I know there’s been a recent notice to disregard what Mr. Fenn might say in interviews, just rely on the Poem. I think Dal believes, maybe Forrest said somewhere, that the treasure is hidden in the original spot he had chosen to rest his bones. I know he’s said it’s a place “dear” to him. And somewhere he mentioned desert.

Forrest Fenn’s Treasure Chest

Can I reconcile all these ideas?

Not easily. I think it would take me more than four Xanax, a staff, and snake boots to fling myself into anyplace that might have a ‘moving floor’, even if there was a certain treasure chest in the middle of it.

“It is such a mysterious place, the land of tears.”

English: Saint Exupery monument in Tarfaya Рус…

The Petite Prince (fabiana89.wordpress.com)
$189,500 IWC Big Pilot’s Perpetual Calendar Edition “Le Petit Prince” in Platinum Sold for Charity (extravaganzi.com)
Memorable Quotes from Indiana Jones (movies.answers.com)
TERRIFYING PHOTO: The World’s Biggest Snake Killed In Malaysia (inforeel.wordpress.com)

Gluttons For Punishment

Posted on December 7, 2013 by waterhigh

Is your Thrill of the Chase hunt not going so well?
Here’s another way to find gold.

Appalachian Prospectors Gold Prospecting Adventures

Hillbilly John and I made our usual trek northward to the Western Mountains of Maine on the first week of September which has been customary for us for over the past several years. This year Hillbilly John’s daughter Melissa and her boyfriend Mike accompanied us. It was their first time out dredging for gold. It was also their first time visiting Maine. The weather was nice, it was warm and humid and it looked like we were going to have some nice weather for the labor day weekend. We arrived in the later part of the afternoon, we set up camp, jumped on the quads and headed out to the spot we planned to dredge in to look it over and put together a solid plan for the following day. We had a location picked out that we have dredged before that we had gotten some nice gold out of. We…

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Gimbles and Gymbals

Posted on December 2, 2013 by waterhigh

Cover of The Jabberwocky

“‘Twas brillig and the slithy toves

did gyre and gymble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogroves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son.””

from Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

—Fenn knows someone who has the entire book of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland memorized.

Gyroscope with arrows (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thanks to Toby’s video, I got to enjoy Forrest Fenn’s book signing event in Taos last month at Moby Dickens. Fun and, as always, fascinating to hear the man himself. He reminisced,recited poetry, and remained cryptic when it came to where the treasure lies.

Gyroscope-9-4 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

New insights? Yes and no. “Fling” was new to me, but then I have no trouble in finding clues in everything he says or writes. I suffer from mental gyrations following each and every post. Tabasco? Mace? Curlers? Head spinning.

Also, hearing him talk about the deal he made with his granddaughter regarding med school expenses reminded me of conversations I had with Intrepid.

As high school graduation approached, her friends were all getting piercings and tattoos up the wazoo. She was inclined to follow suit, until I asked her if she wanted help with college. A deal was struck.

She got early acceptance into the only school she applied to, (UW-Madison

English: University of Wisconsin “Sifting and Winnowing” plaque Located on Bascom Hall, University of WIsconsin Photographed July, 2002 by Daniel P. B. Smith. Copyright ©2002 Daniel P. B. Smith. Licensed under the terms of the Wikipedia Copyright. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

) ((I was very jealous.))

One time, when she was home on break, she asked what would happen if she got a tattoo.

Me: You’d turn that gift into a loan.

Her: Oh.

Me: Anything you want to tell me?

Her: No.

At one point in those years, she was set to join the military because they would pay for med school and she’d get good experience. I suggested she wait until she got accepted into med school before taking that route, because once she joined she may not get the choices she expected. Or something like that.

So, she waited. Got into med school and through it, on student loans. Now, this was a surprise to me— the interest rates go up the higher your level of study does. Undergrads, the lowest, and med/dental students the highest, like 7 to 8 per cent. How, I wondered, could this be, in a time when banks pay you virtually nothing on your savings?

Early forms of stethoscopes. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well, she is now in a 5 year residency, and owes about twice what our first home cost. I think there are underserved areas that are willing to trade tuition for services, kinda like Rob Morrow’s character ending up in fly-in Alaska in Northern Exposure. She does love to travel.

About the tattoo(s)? She’s now old enough to know what forever means (longer than the life of her loans), and if she wants the rod of Aesclepius indelibly inscribed on her body, she’s earned the right to choose it.

Aesclepius (Photo credit: santanartist)

{{Note to self: Let Dal know that, if by a slim chance my entry won his contest over at Thrill of the Chase, not to ship the prize. I need a way to convince Mr. W that I have to return to Santa Fe!}}

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves (3quarksdaily.com)
gyroscopes
stethoscopes
The Caduceus vs the Staff of Asclepius (eyeofthepeacock.wordpress.com)

Kryptos

Posted on November 20, 2013 by waterhigh

English: Low-res image of the CIA’s Kryptos sculpture, provided by the sculptor, Jim Sanborn (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How is it that I’ve never heard of this???

I was visiting Jenny Kile’s blog, Mysterious Writings, and clicked on Codes and Cyphers. Fascinating. Right in the CIA courtyard.

—

http://mysteriouswritings.com/the-mysterious-unsolved-code-of-kryptos/

Germany Consider Internet Isolation Over NSA Spying Shenanigans (darkgovernment.com)
Man finds massive 5.5 kg gold nugget in Australia (eutimes.net)
A Hidden Treasure Remains Hidden. (haileywilson50.wordpress.com)
Still troubled by flying Superman, Stan Lee backs Thor’s method (robot6.comicbookresources.com)
Treasure Island, the ever-open dead man’s chest: from the archive, 19 November 1983 (theguardian.com)
Superman: Escape from Krypton (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Link to Toby Younis’ Taping of Fenn Book Signing

Posted on November 7, 2013 by waterhigh

In case you missed this on Dal or Stephanie’s blog, here is the link to see the Forrest Fenn book signing last Saturday at the Moby Dickens in Taos—-

Event video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/JXupxL4ovmY

Thanks to Toby for his excellent work!

The man who buried his treasure in a poem (telegraph.co.uk)

Marooned Without a Compass Day: Learning Directions, Maps and How to Use a Compass

Posted on November 6, 2013 by waterhigh

English: Compass rose, 8 points (text labels in English) Italiano: Rosa dei venti a 8 punte (etichette di testo in inglese) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What I didn’t learn in school—

Marooned Without a Compass Day: Learning Directions, Maps and How to Use a Compass.

Glad for the explanations on GPS coordinates, etc. over on Stephanie’s Chase Chat. Thank you all.

And just for fun, treasure seekers, click on the link below …..

Aaaargh!

http://wingnutstockimages.wordpress.com/2013/11/06/create-an-authentic-looking-pirate-treasure-map/

Pyle’s 20th century illustration of a marooned pirate (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Secrets to Viking Navigation Unearthed? (livescience.com)
Adler Planetarium: Chicago’s Gateway to the Stars (local.answers.com)

Today in Taos

Posted on November 2, 2013 by waterhigh

Mr. Fenn signing my TTOTC.

Forrest Fenn, author of The Thrill of the Chase and Too Far To Walk and many others is signing books at 4 pm today at Moby Dickens Book Store in Taos. (Still jealous . . . .)

Thanks to Toby for taping the event. I look forward to watching it. You never know when a new clue might slip out. Ω Ω

Peppers drying near Taos, New Mexico (Photo credit: State Library and Archives of Florida)

Cervalces in Iowa

Posted on November 1, 2013 by waterhigh

Thrill of the Find—

Cervalces in Iowa.

English: Life restoration of Cervalces scotti (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From Science Dailyhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130919121906.htm

When I find the picture of a spear point found in the skeleton of a bison on the Illinois River during low water, I’ll post it. It was on display at Dickson Mounds Museum in central Illinois. They have great displays of artifacts.

Didn’t Forrest mention that finding a Clovis point inside the skull of a mammoth is still on his bucket list?

English: Museum at Dickson Mounds, Illinois. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: A map showing the Hopewell Interaction Sphere and various local expressions of the Hopewell cultures, including the Laurel Complex, Saugeen Complex, Point Peninsula Complex, Marksville culture, Copena culture, Kansas City Hopewell, Swift Creek Culture, Goodall Focus, Crab Orchard culture and Havana Hopewell culture. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: A map showing the various Mississippian cultures, including the Caddoan Mississippian culture and the Plaquemine culture, as well as the other cultures influenced by the Mississippians, the Fort Ancient culture and Oneota peoples. Also shows a few important sites such as Cahokia, Moundville, Etowah, Town Creek, Spiro, Kincaid and Angel. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)