Birthday Boy and Discoveries

First I have to say Happy Birthday, James! I wish I was there to celebrate with you, but we'll have a big celebration when we go get some treasure in the middle of September! Should be perfect mountain weather! :) You are awesome and I am honored and blessed to have you in my life!

And yes, I have a secret, so hard to contain, major discovery yesterday, and almost ready to travel...

Since I started this chase about 3 1/2 years ago, I've been on a determined and super fun corps of discovery across the Rocky Mountains. Since my life altering trip to Colorado with my son, I have actively participated on the blogs, and created my own blogs that talk about the chase.

Countless people have emailed me, and many have emailed me their solves, some of them quite good. But the actual solve involves many elements. One of my first solves was a "periodic table" solve. Brown had to do with rust, which is related to the element of iron, which is Fe.

There are many elemental references in TTotC. Rust is mentioned many times in both TTotC and TFTW. There's the "heavy brown color" that was left on Forrest's pants when he slid down the fire escape to experience the freedom and sunshine outside of Miss Ford's Spanish class. In TFTW, Forrest talks about a beloved pet, Rusty.

He also mentions Thor, which I thought could be a reference to Thorium. Salty tears and saltpeter could refer to Na. The oxygen in the plane at 49,000 feet could refer to O. He also refers to aluminum, which is Al. He refers to gold, Au. Saltpeter could also refer to potassium, which is K. Titanium is Ti. Milk is a source of calcium, which is Ca. Silver is Ag. Cobalt is Co. Einsteinium is Es. Nickel is Ni. And Bronze is an alloy which contains some of the following, Copper (Cu), Manganese (Mn), Zinc (Zn), Arsenic (As), Phosphorus (P), and Silicon (Si), in addition to others previously mentioned. Lightning is associated with nitrogen and nitrates (N).

And there's probably more, but I couldn't make that solve work, anyway. Lol.

I've had many solve theories, some of them really, really terrible, and some of them pretty good. But my solve now is the solve. I don't think anyone has found what I have, but if they have, they're keeping it very quiet. I emailed Forrest a couple little things last night, but haven't heard back.

And I'm not going to talk about it any more than I already have, because I do want to find this thing, and too many hints have already been given.

Anyway, with some luck, James and I will be heading west in September. :)

Wow, this post makes almost no sense...that's what happens when I have to rush!

I Can't Believe It...

I can't believe Joe is in tenth grade today! Wow, he's growing up so fast...it seems like just the other day when he was like this:

And now he's in tenth grade and will probably be driving by this time next year. And Callie is in 11th grade! But she doesn't want to drive yet, because she can just Uber everywhere. Lol.

Of course, we waited til the last minute to buy school clothes, and shoes and stuff. And we ordered it all online this year, because Volusia County switched to polo shirt "uniforms," so all the kids will look pretty much exactly the same. Shopping has never been easier. Lol.

I spent almost the entire weekend at the rehab and working on my solve. I made progress, for sure. I now know what I think is the location of Forest's secret fishing spot, but I'm not convinced it's the spot where the treasure is hidden.

Next weekend, I'm taking a break from the poem solving, and I'm going to do some painting. I'm sort of disappointed in myself that I didn't do any this weekend. And the weekend went by way too fast, too.

Tomorrow is James' birthday. I'll have to think of something special. I think he's coming down for my birthday next month, and we'll celebrate both then. :)

Okay, I'm going to give you all a hint. As I progress with my solve, I've realized that you probably could use just the poem to find the treasure, but you would have to be extremely lucky. And I mean extremely! You would basically be playing hit or miss with the thousands of warm waters halting with canyon downs, etc. And then when you figure in the possibility of alternate meanings for the words in the poem (ie, yellow equals warm, waters equal tears, etc), then you can multiply the possible starting locations by several thousand more.

Using the book to help makes it infinitely easier to locate the PRECISE starting point. If you read the poem, then read the book slowly, you'll find places where warm waters halt, and on the pages where warm waters halt, you will find subtle hints that are very important. I'll give you one example.

When Forrest says something is important or useful, you can be sure it's important and useful. On one particular page in TTOTC, there is this sentence, "...punctuate the moment with something useful, like a waiter or the paperboy."

Punctuate means to give something emphasis, or to mark in a way to give emphasis to. Okay, so why did he say "a waiter" and "the paperboy?"

Because, the PHOTOS are important.

Page through the book and find the picture of Forrest as "the paperboy." Such an innocent picture, don't you think? However, look closer. Really really close. Concentrate on the light and dark areas. Your eyes will take a while to adapt, but they will, if you have a brain that allows a little imagination.

But is there a picture of a waiter in TTOTC? I couldn't remember, so I slowly flipped through the book and looked at the captions below the pictures. And I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I found the pic with the caption that Donnie looked like an "untipped waiter." And the picture, even with untrained eyes, looked fishy to me. However, after staring hard at pics for a few days, certain things in that picture practically leaped out to grab me by the shoulders as if to say, "What took you so long?"

And that, my friends, is a huge hint. However, I've learned that even though I'm convinced this is right and have tons of evidence, with coordinates and place names and highway names and intersections, maybe only one or two of you reading this will abandon your current methods to check mine out. Everyone believes so much in their own solves that they aren't open to anyone else's. Heck, even James hasn't abandoned his solve despite what I've shown him and what he's seen with his eyes. But that's okay. No one has to believe me for it to be right.

One thing I've discovered, though, is that girls seem to have an advantage, because our eyes seem to adapt better than men's, and men have a harder time discerning colors and distinctions between colors.

I'll even give you a couple of words I've found, out of the good will of my heart.

I've found "US 12 at I 15," which I didn't know at the time I found it, is an intersection in Helena, Montana.

I've found Bessie, and May, and May 2nd. I know what Bessie refers to, but that's a secret I'm not telling. I'm not sure what the significance of May 2nd is, but here are a few things I've found on the Internet:

1670 – King Charles II of England grants a permanent charter to the Hudson's Bay Company to open up the fur trade in North America.

1964 – Vietnam War: An explosion sinks the USS Card while it is docked at Saigon.

1955 – Tennessee Williams wins the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. (Remember the pic of the tiger pelt on the tin roof in TTOTC?"

1892 – Birth of Manfred von Richthofen, German captain and pilot (d. 1918)

It's real significance is probably none of those, but I thought these are the ones I know about that are worth noting.

Anyway, my time in the mornings have grown shorter for a few weeks until the school drop off line smooths out their wrinkles.

Who said the following quote and where can you find a reference to the author in The Thrill of the Chase? The first to answer in the comments, I will give a very nice hint.

"The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day."

Forgotten History

I won't talk about the fiasco at ChaseChat last night. I'll just sum it all up with a quote from Mahatma Ghandi:

That about sums it up, don't ya think?

Anyway, I woke up a little early for a Saturday and on the American Heroes Channel is one of my favorite new shows: America's Most Badass. One of the Presidential experts is Daniel O'Brien, from one of my favorite websites and YouTube channels, Cracked.com. Another is an author of a book called Forgotten History.

The episode I'm watching now pits Andrew Jackson, Howard Hughes, Evel Knievel, General Patton against each other for the title of Most Badass. Right now Evel Knievel is in the lead because he tried to rocket cycle over the Snake River Canyon in Idaho. I'm not sure that qualifies as bad ass or crazy, but I'll go along with bad ass. Howard Hughes is coming in dead last--I guess even a show about bad asses has  to have a scapegoat.

I like this show because it makes history fun, and gives us a side of history not generally talked about in the classroom. And I can't help it, I love Daniel O'Brien. He's smart and hilarious--a winning combination! He also hates cats and his dog is named Jackson President O'Brien. He also wrote a book called How to Fight Presidents, and was investigated by the Secret Service for it! How can you not love this guy?

I thought I'd dedicate this post to some badass women in history, and I'm not going to limit it to America. This could end up being a really long list, so we'll just say this episode one. In this episode, we'll feature some ancient female badasses: Boudica, Joan of Arc, and Lady Jane Gray.

Today, we'll take a look at Boudica (or Boudicca).

Boudica was married to a Celtic Iceni King, Prasutagus. Not much is known about him, except that he was an ally of Rome, yet independent of Rome and was allowed to retain his status of king over his traditional lands. 

When Prasutagus died, the greedy Romans decided they wanted all of what Prasutagus had, and they took it in the nastiest way possible. They publicly flogged Boudica, and raped her two young daughters. 

That's not somethin' you should do to a Celtic queen, or any mother who's badass enough to fight for her family. Boudica decided she wasn't going to mewl like a weak little mouse and willingly surrender everything that was rightfully hers, and she was going to personally make sure the Romans would pay for what they did to her daughters. Man, I love Boudica. She also loved her lands and people so much that she did everything in her power to keep from losing them and becoming slaves (or worse) to the brutal Romans.

I would have loved to hear her address her tribe as she rallied an army to resist the Roman forces, who greatly outmatched Boudica's army in training, arms, and numbers. I'm sure it was inspirational and charismatic. They had to know they wouldn't win in the end, but they sure weren't going down without a fight for what they believed in--freedom.

The historian Tacitus wrote the following paragraph about Boudica, and you can almost hear the admiration in his voice. And Tacitus was a Roman, and generally the Romans skewed their details of history to make themselves look better.

"Prasutagus, king of the Iceni, after a life of long and renownded prosperity, had made the emperor co-heir with his own two daughters. Prasutagus hoped by this submissiveness to preserve his kingdom and household from attack. But it turned out otherwise. [After his death] kingdom and household alike were plundered like prizes of war, the one by Roman officers, the other by Roman slaves. As a beginning, his widow Boudicca was flogged and their daughters raped. The Icenian chiefs were deprived of their hereditary estates as if the Romans had been given the whole country. The king's own relatives were treated like slaves. And the humiliated Iceni feared still worse, now that they had been reduced to provincial status. So they rebelled." (Eyewitness to Ancient Rome, 197).

Here are a couple of the only known quotes of Boudica:

"If you weigh well the strengths of our armies you will see that in this battle we must conquer or die. This is a woman's resolve. As for the men, they may live or be slaves."

"I am not fighting for my kingdom and wealth now. I am fighting as an ordinary person for my lost freedom, my bruised body, and my outraged daughters."

And Boudica showed what an ordinary woman fighting for her freedom and family can do. She mounted an army and like a Valkyrie, bravely charged into battle. 

She first struck the Roman city of Camulodunum, and the people there appealed to Governor Suetonius for help. He was like, "Aw, she's just a woman and her army is a bunch of woad-tattooed barbarian Iceni. Let's see, a force of about 200 soldiers should take care of this gnat. And arm my forces lightly--they won't need much to put this lowly woman in her place."

Yeah, you can guess what happened. BOOM! Boudica destroyed them all, and leveled the city.

I wish I could have seen the look on Suetonius's face! 

Then, with that victory, Boudica rode on to London. Suetonius was there, but when he saw that Boudica had more soldiers than he had anticipated, fled the city, leaving it to be demolished by Boudica, who did just that.

She then moved on to another city and destroyed it, too. She seemed unstoppable, although she had to know in her mind she would eventually find her army far outnumbered, and that it was only a matter of time before she fell. What makes Boudica badass is that she didn't care. She was fighting for her family and her freedom, and even if she fell, she'd made her statement. She did her best, and that was all she could do. She was badass because she faced her certain fate bravely. She had decided she would rather die fighting for what she believed in rather than let an enemy make them into slaves.

While Boudica was laying waste to Verulamium, Suetonius decided she was an enemy to be taken seriously. He brought in a small force of his best soldiers, and his best advisors, and they formed a plan of defense and attack at Boudica's next target. They assembled in an area where the woods were behind them, and open country in the front. That put them with the advantage because they couldn't be attacked from behind.

Boudica eventually arrived, and the two armies faced each other. Tacitus says both leaders gave their armies inspirational speeches.

Unfortunately, Suetonius's advantageous position proved fatal for Boudica's army, and the Romans began to slaughter the Britons. The remaining Britons saw the battle was hopeless, and fled. Boudica and her daughters also escaped, but they knew their time was short as Roman soldiers were hot on her heels.

Instead of being killed or taken as slaves by the enemy, Boudica and her daughters performed one last badass feat; they drank poison and took their own lives.

So, Boudica is near the top of my list of badass women in history. In my book, a badass woman is one who stands for what she believes in, no matter what the danger or risk, or ultimate cost. She battles for those things that are important to her, and doesn't let anyone take those things from her without a fight. For Boudica, those things were freedom and family, a just and honorable cause.

Next time, Joan of Arc...

To wrap up, I'll also end with a quote from Mahatma Ghandi:

Noise

Sometimes the world is too loud for me.

I'v e never really thought about it before, but there are different kinds of "loud" that affect me in different ways.

Too loud are the cats at 4:30 or 5:00 am in the morning, desperately meowing for their kibbles and stinky clumps of soggy brown clumps. Their meowing just makes me want it to stop, so I hurry to get them fed. I guess they have me trained pretty well.

Here they are, happy again.

Too loud is when coworkers complain about "don't sweat the small stuff" stuff. I think I've mentioned before that my office seems to be neutral territory, where both factions of staff feel safe to vent. And although I like being neutral, sometimes the complaining gets to be too trivial, and just too loud. I wish I could just shut my door on those days.

Fire alarms are always too loud. Although I guess it's good that they are.

But there are also seemingly quiet things that are too loud, like the rehab my mom was in before the one she's at now. Loud doesn't always have to be an audible noise, and I realize that now more than ever. When things are too loud, I have an overwhelming urge to get away. Crowded places do that to me. At my mom's old rehab, I think that somehow the stress in that place from residents not being treated very nicely can manifest itself as an inaudible sound for a sensitive person. I really believe that. I think that's why I had the overwhelming urge to get out of there. I had thought that it was because it was cramped, and maybe that was part of it. I also thought it could be a subconscious awareness of death and hopelessness, and that could be part of it, too.

But I remember as a teenager and college kid, I belonged to a church who would go and visit the nursing home in Merritt Island, and we'd sing to, play games with, and just talk to the people who lived there. I didn't feel it was too loud there, and I don't feel like its too loud where my mom is now. So, I think Port Orange was too loud because of some not very nice things going on behind the scenes.

There have been studies that seem to prove that strong emotion in one person can be physically felt by others. Maybe to me, the resident's strong emotion was felt as a loud yet inaudible "noise."

But sometimes loud can be comforting. I remember when I used to go surfing "Dawn Patrol" and be one of the only ones out in the water, sitting on my board as the sun rose higher in the sky. The sound of the ocean is one of the most calming, most soothing loud noises in the world to me, and it's part of what made being in the water so special. I remember the distinct, unique sound of the water lapping against the sides of the surfboard, and sometimes while waiting for the next set, I'd lift the nose a little and slap the board down just to make that noise a little louder.

Here's the path to one of my favorite secret surfing spots:

Rain and thunder, to me, are also an enjoyable loud noise. Until the power goes out, anyway. Lol. I love really rainy, stormy days, because then I have an excuse to stay inside.

Here's Callie and Aidan outside on our balcony in Merritt Island during Tropical Storm Fay in 2008.

Birds singing can sometimes be too loud in a bad way, if they start before the sun rises and I'm trying to sleep. I remember when we lived in Albuquerque, springtime meant the birds would start way too early. Lol. However, if I'm awake, and the birds outside are singing, I enjoy it.

In my neighborhood we have several families of Sandhill Cranes, and they have a very distinctive call that I can sometimes hear at odd times outside my bedroom window. Here's one little happy family:

The sound of leaves crunching under my feet as I walk on a forest trail are loud in the silence, and soothing. I like that sound very much. Raking leaves in the Fall (when I lived in states that actually had a Fall), was also a soothing sound.

Fire crackling is a nice loud sound. Unless it's my house burning down, I suppose. Lol.

Loud can be more than the physical sense of hearing. It can be colors, or even noise in photographic images or drawings. A busy photograph is not often very appealing to the eyes, and sometimes can be too loud.

Here's a picture I took at Megacon in Orlando. Holy cow, that event was WAY too loud.

Which brings me to my solve, and why it's taking a long time. Yoda mentioned that my solve must not be as 100% as I claim because it's taking so long. To that, I say he or she is partly correct. I know I'm solving it the hard way, and I know there's an easier way, but I just don't have it yet. However, I can still solve it, and am making progress that CAN be measured. There are eight corners. I've found the trail through four of the corners now. Two days ago, I had just one corner done. Today, I have four. That's measurable progress. It's like following the instructions when your putting together that IKEA dresser. You're making progress as you finish each step. It's measurable, contrary to what someone says on ChaseChat.

And honestly, I can't say how long it will take me to make it to the end. Life happens. As much as I'd like to get to the end and head West to pick up the treasure, there are things that are way more important than a bronze chest, even if its contents were worth ten million dollars. I've got things going on in my life that take priority over riches and glory. So, Not-Very-Wise Yoda, that is why I'm not dropping everything and rushing out to grab it. You might think wealth is everything, but I don't. My family will always come first.

And Forrest, if you're reading this, you know what I mean by "noise." I'm slowly adapting my focus to see through the noise, but it is difficult the way I'm doing it. But if the same results can be reached by doing it the hard way, I'll keep plugging along until it's done. I really enjoyed your lion, by the way--very cute. I like discovering your art. It's fun. :)

The Whine of Monday

Weekends need to be loooonnnggger.

So much I want to do, but not enough time to do everything. I did get a lot done this weekend, though. Of course, I waited until the last minute for school shopping, but I'm glad I did because Old Navy had everything for cheap. And since Volusia County made the switch to "uniforms" (really just orange, black, or white polo shirts and jeans, or tan or black shorts), it made shopping a breeze. Just two of everything. Lol.

This is the last week before school starts. Then, back to the rigorous morning schedule of waking up earlier, getting Joe up and going, and taking him to school. Next year, he'll be able to drive. Woohoo!

I didn't get to paint this weekend, though, and I really wanted to. But I forgot what I wanted to paint, so I have to wait for that memory to come back. I still haven't finished my Pokemon/Little Pony style "Love Story" painting with the girl and the dragon. And I think it's time to start painting some chase related things. I have some ideas that you'll only get if you have a weird sense of humor.

The bad thing about oil paints is they take SO long to dry. Now I know why they use "waiting for the paint to dry." Because it takes a long freaking time! How the heck did Eric Sloane finish a painting a day, when he could only put two colors on at a time? I know, I know, because he probably had ten paintings going at once. That's what I need to do too, I spose. I need bigger canvases, though. My little 8 x 10 ones are sort of small, and some of the things I want to paint demand more space.

I am closer to the point where I will be able to head to an exact location to retrieve the treasure. I found some very interesting, non-deniable things last night, and it's very, very exciting. I'm not going to talk much about it, though, because I've said way too much already. However, I also believe I could lay out EVERYTHING I've found and still have a host of unbelievers who can't believe that Forrest would do something so whimsical. Those are the same people who can't reconcile his seeming contradictions. I can reconcile every single one of them, because they aren't contradictions if you know what he's talking about. And the only way you'll know what he's talking about is if you know how to solve the poem.

I see some other glimpses of what I have discovered in a few other's posts, but I still don't think they have the precision yet. I could be wrong, though.

Anyway, I had a pretty decent weekend. I'm glad my mom is in a place where she can feel safe. There are a couple of quickly approaching hurdles I have to figure out some way to jump, but I think everything will work out. One thing I think I need to consider, though, is a smaller, easier to maintain, house.

Here's a pic of my mom and Monet from this weekend...

The New Place

Wow, my mom's new rehab is like night and day from Port Orange. She has a huge private room, a nice view out the window, attentive and compassionate staff, and she said she progressed more in one day in physical therapy than she did in six weeks at Port Orange.

Monet and I went for a visit yesterday, and unlike Port Orange, I didn't have the urge to get out of there as  fast as possible. It was a completely different vibe. I'd mentioned to James that while visiting my mom at Port Orange, from the minute I stepped inside, my anxiety level escalated until I had the urge to flee as fast as I could. I had attributed that feeling to the somewhat cramped space, but now I think it was more than that.

In the new rehab, I feel completely relaxed, and my mom's severe confusion has pretty much totally resolved, although she still can't remember what happened on that Friday. I got a comment yesterday saying that if it were the commenter's mom, she would have taken her out and kept her at home until she could take her to a new place. I just want to say that would have been impossible for me, for a number of reasons. The most important is that if I had checked her out of rehab, it would have been very hard to get her placed in a new one. It was hard enough with changing rehabs when she was in the hospital. And I'm not qualified to provide the kind of care my mom needed at the time, even for one night. Bringing her home was just as risky as leaving her in Port Orange for one more day.

Anyway, the only traces left of her confusion is her recall of the name of Port Orange Rehab. Yesterday, when we talked about it, the only part of the name she could recall was "orange." She called it "Red Orange," "Orange Peel," and "Real Orange." Lol.

She was very happy to see Monet, though. Monet was happy to see her, too, although she had to check out every inch of the room.

After the visit, I went home and just relaxed. I played a little Dragon Age Inquisition, and just basked in the calming of my mind. Here's a video of a scene in Dragon Age that I found pretty funny, although sorta stupid. I know, my comments are juvenile and silly, but that was the mood yesterday, so I don't care. :)

Today, I will manage to do a little cleaning, as well as ordering Joe's school clothes (Voluisa county made the switch to uniforms this year--makes it easy). Hopefully, I'll make some time to work on my poem solve.

Have a great weekend.