Monet, aka Street Rocket

I'd just finished a 9.5 hour workday, got a car loaded with groceries, and opened my front door...

Monet, the best behaved dog in the world, took off down the street like her tail puff was on fire...you'll see glimpses of the miniature rabbit-like creature as I walk after her saying in my super authoritative mad voice, "HEY! Get back in the house!" (like that would work). My mom even has a cameo in this one, because she freaks out when Monet gets away. Lol.

The Big Picture

The CBS Sunday Morning interview was great for three reasons:

1. It was neat to see Dal out there walking around and not seeing a moose, and quickly checking a rock to not see the treasure. He was in a beautiful spot, though, and I think a well-chosen one. And he said the word "fun," which is, after all, where it's at.

2. It was neat to see the family "enjoying" their hike, throwing caution to the wind. "Press on, children, even though we can see you're terrified. And bored." One thing--if you're doing this for you, and your children are terrified or incredibly bored, something's wrong, in my opinion. However, I realize the media only provides a few moments out of the entire trip and the children may have been thoroughly pleased and had a great time on the trip. I understand the press is GREAT at catching you at a bad moment. I know there were two moments when Joe was a little terrified on our trip and if the media filmed those two moments, the world wouldn't have seen the entire picture, so I have nothing against that family, and I probably shouldn't have made the above comment, but I'm going to leave it there to prove a point.

3. The mine comment made me extremely happy. My solve wasn't a mine, but it was at the time of the interview, and it had to do with black widows.  I am very glad it's not in a mine.

Okay, now for the meat of the post. Forrest tells us to look at the "big picture." No one really knows what he's talking about. The big picture can apply to lots of things. Let's look at a few.

1. The big picture is really a big picture. Like the big pictures in TTotC. Yes, it could be one of those pictures. There's also a big picture on the Santa Fe website that I really like for it's aberrations. In my mind, Forrest wants to play catch with you on a carousel. The camera testifies to that, and you need to do some research and read The Catcher and the Rye to see why I think this. There are lots of interesting things in this picture: the camera in the upper right, not all the way up, but providing a bird's eye perspective.

You know how Forrest refers to robins ducking out of the way of BB's? That's because robins can "see" magnetism, and so can ducks. It's what allows them to migrate so precisely, and why homing pigeons are so accurate without maps. Who needs a map when you can see Earth's magnetism, which looks different in each direction? Maybe that's the bird's eye perspective we need.

There are the two paintings photoshopped in. Why those two paintings? There's got to be a reason, in my opinion. The statue of the Madonna and baby near the bottom is Romanesque,  like the chest. The thing to the right of it is a Hopi Capulin thing, maybe with a Catholic influence (not sure about that at all--I researched it, but it's 5:30 am and I can't remember). The cloth lying on the floor next to the Madonna has what looks like Morse Code. There are a couple of X's, if I'm not mistaken. There are gold coins (or maybe just price tags) in various conspicuous spots if you look close. The best way to see them is to invert the photo in photoshop to negative. The coins show up as a different, more obvious blue color. Then there's the cow head that looks like it has the mouth of an alligator, and the stone bear that looks like a stone beaver. And Forrest, holding the "ball," looking like he's asking if you're ready to play catch.

So, if you research a little, you will know how this picture ties into "the end is ever drawing nigh," and The Catcher in the Rye. This is just one theory I haven't yet followed all the way through. It might help someone though.

2. The big picture is a comment on life. We didn't get to see the big picture on the CBS story. Dal graciously posted to let us see behind the scenes, and the reason why they seemed to be hiking around without rhyme or reason. We didn't get to see the fun parts of that family's trip, where the kids were happy and not terrified or bored. Maybe we aren't seeing the big picture of Forrest's life, either. We're seeing what he's put out there, but maybe if we read his words how they're meant to be read, as a whole and in the right context, we will see the correct "big picture."

3. Maybe the big picture is the map. Maybe if we look at the map in context, examining ALL of it, we'll see more than meets the eye. I have questions about that map, as many of you do. There are obvious "mistakes" (or not mistakes at all) that weren't "fixed" on the second printing. I still maintain that "highlighted" can mean either the bright parts or the washed out parts, or both. The entire map is the treasure area, at least those that are in NM, CO, WY, or MT.

4. Maybe the big picture is nothing more than a movie Forrest may have really enjoyed that maybe embodied his perception of his world at a moment of time.

5. Maybe he's telling us the big picture is the poem, and there are no shortcuts to solving it. Meaning there is no reason trying to figure out hoB or the blaze until WWWH is firmly and undeniably established. The poem is a whole, and every stanza is important. That's my thought, anyway. Which leads me to think there is a system of rules you have to follow to solve each clue. In my opinion, there is a way you can reduce the poem to an exact location. I don't have it yet, though, but feel I'm close. In New Mexico.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. For today. And for the record, I don't think the big picture I posted above is the means for solving the poem. I once thought it was part of it, and it may still be, but I think I'm on to something better. My final answer.

Thinking Out Loud (Formerly titled: The Rainbow)

How many people out there think the end of Forrest's rainbow is actually the arc that comes out after a rain? In the following pic, I am the one, sitting in the back, with a quizzical look on her face because so many people are raising their hands.

So, there's been a lot of talk on Dal's blog about all the colors in TToTC. It's really good discussion.

Every day, I look more and more carefully at the way Forrest says things, as well as the words he uses.

Like on Jenny's blog the other day...

Forrest spoke about using an inert gas to meld a ferrous and non-ferrous metal together. There's interesting information there, but what got me was that he made a fire poker with the head of a cow. Know what that is? It's a cow poke. Notice the pic? He rammed that cow poke into his library wall. I sent him an email that said either he got too enthusiastic smashing a bug, or that cow busted his head through the wall because he liked him so much. The first pic is from Jenny's blog. The second is from the California magazine article by Taylor Clark, The Everlasting Forrest Fenn. I circled the cow's head twice in the second picture to make sure you wouldn't miss it.

Anyway, you need to listen to not only what Forrest says, but how he says it. He tells you that in the very first paragraph of TToTC. 

But, back to colors. I've listed them all, I think. There are a couple meanings that elude me. I think I've figured out who John Charles represents, but I don't get the olive jar meaning, unless he's talking about stacking. Stacking is a brand new theory, that I've actually thought of just this second. Like, when Forrest says "drawing," could he mean "draw in g," "draw w in g," or even "draw ng?" I'll have to look into that tomorrow after work. Hmmmm...

This guy's name is John Charles...whatever.

I've got other theories for the word "drawing," but I'm trying (but evidently failing) to keep on the topic of the rainbow. 

Okay, so if a butterfly is really a flutterby, could a rainbow be something else? Maybe not a rearranging of letters, like in that example, but something like Eric's marrying housekeepers because they kept the house after the divorce?

Or maybe the "end of the rainbow" is a clue in itself. The end of the rainbow is ever drawing nigh. The end is Everard wing nigh = Everard's left wing. The end of the rainbow is Eric's left wing. Man, I could give so many references to the left wing, and wings in general...too bad I don't know how to fit it all together yet. 

Another theory about the rainbow is that the colors of the rainbow combine to make the color gray. On page 75 of TToTC, Forrest quotes from a poem his friend wrote about his wife, and Forrest said he'd address them to his wife as well.

There are a few anthropomorphous colors in that poem. Courage wears crimson, knowledge wears a "dress of note," and fame wears gold. Patience, however, wears a gray gown as she stays at home and weaves the cloth the others who "do and dare" wear. The key is to figure out which one of these is Peggy. 

Courage wears a crimson coat.

I assumed at first that Peggy was the gray, patient one who was patient and stayed at home weaving. But now, I'm not so sure. Forrest never really says outright. Maybe Peggy is all three, combined. Maybe we should look for a picture in the book of Peggy wearing a particular dress. Maybe Eric represents knowledge, because he wrote knowledgeable books of "large note." The chapter "Ode to Peggy Jean" may provide some answers. 

When I googled "dress of note," this was one of the images that came up. I had to LOL. I can think of nothing more mortifying than wearing this in public:

By the way, this post is classic Mindy Thought Process, because none of this is from my notes and is literally coming from out of the blue, out of nowhere. What comes out of the blue, out of nowhere--isn't that referring to an idiom? Like a lightning bolt from out of the blue? Have you noticed how many references there are to things coming from out of the blue and out of nowhere in TToTC? Sooo, maybe there's something blue on the map, that has blazed the trail we're to follow (see lightning illustration on previous post)?

Is this a question mark? Maybe!

Well, this post didn't end up highlighting some of the colors I've found in TToTC and their possible meanings. But it did give me something to think about later, and maybe it gave you the key to figuring out the poem. 

Nothing is as it seems. I'll say that til I die. A canyon may not be a canyon. A blaze may not be something you find on a tree or a rock. The home of Brown may not refer to anything we'd normally think of as "brown." Just because it's straightforward doesn't mean it's conventional.

All we have to know is where to start.

Bullies have been around a long time...

There seem to be a lot of campaigns against bullying lately, and that's a good thing. A couple years ago, I bought about fifty of those rubber bracelets for Callie and Joe to give out to friends at school. The bracelets I ordered were black with bright blue Batman font that said "I am not a bully." I thought it would serve a dual purpose at the school. It would give the kids a peaceful way to take a stand against bullying, and it would identify the kids who weren't bullies to the kids who were being bullied, thereby providing a potential ally and friend so they might not have to stand alone.

But, the design on the webpage I bought the bracelets from depicted the bracelets differently than they actually were. The blue was not nearly bright enough to be easily read, but Callie and Joe still passed them out. Some of the teachers still wear them, I heard. I wanted to buy more bracelets, making the font bigger and brighter, but they were sort of expensive and I couldn't afford it at the time. I was going to sell them for $1.00 apiece, but when I saw the poor quality, I couldn't in good conscience charge for them, and the kids gave them away.

Look hard, and you might see the words.

So my venture to create something good that had a possibility of catching on, fizzled out. But was it a failure? I don't know. What if just ONE scared kid found a friend and supporter from that bracelet? What if ONE bully, after hearing his teacher talk about why he wore the bracelet, changed his mind about bullying and started leaving kids alone?

Then it would all be worth it. The domino effect, you know.

But, in my research last night, I was distracted by stories about the wars with the Indians in the 1800's. And I noticed that some were called "battles" and some, "massacres." But, after looking into it a little, a lot of those battles were also pretty much massacres.

A battle is where opponents fight each other. A massacre is where one side slaughters the other with no mercy.

I believe a bully ochestrated the massacre of Sand Creek. I wish I had time to go into what led up to the massacre, and I will probably do so later, but for now, I'll just focus on the biggest bully I've read about it a while--Colonel John Milton Chivington.

I hate to even write that man's name, so I'll just refer to him as Stupid. Okay, so Stupid hates the Indians. Hates them so much he says, " Damn any man who sympathizes with Indians!...I have come to kill Indians, and believe it's right and honorable to use any means under God's heaven to kill Indians...Kill and scalp all, big and little, nits make lice." (Emphasis added to show stupidity)

To make a long, bitter story short, a chief named Black Kettle rides to Fort Lyon to negotiate peace, leaving behind a camp mostly empty but for women and children. The American flag flies over the camp, to show that Black Kettle wants peace.

But Stupid shows even more stupidity and cowardice than I could even imagine, and takes 700 soldiers and rides to the camp while Black Kettle and his warriors are trying to make peace. Stupid orders his men to attack the mostly women and children, and two heroes stand up against the bully. I will proudly say their names were Captain Silas Soule and Lieutenant Joseph Cramer. They ignored Stupid's order and ordered their companies, D and K, to hold their fire.

 But their were plenty of men left to get Stupid's job done. The soldiers attacked, and massacred everyone in the camp, even after a white flag was raised next to the American flag. The quotes from the men who witnessed this, and a quote from Kit Carson sum up the horror a bully with power can inflict.

"I saw the bodies of those lying there all cut to pieces, worse mutilated than any I ever saw before, the women cut all to pieces... With knives, scalped; their brains knocked out; children two or three months old; all ages lying there, from suckling infants up to warriors... By whom were they mutilated? By the United States troops..."  --John S. Smith

"Fingers and ears were cut off the bodies for the jewelry they carried..." --Stan Hoig

"Jis to think of that dog Chivington and his dirty hounds, up thar at Sand Creek. His men shot down squaws, and blew the brains out of little innocent children. You call sich soldiers Christians, do ye? And Indians savages? What do you 'spose our Heavenly Father, who made both of them and us, thinks of these things?" --Kit Carson

Steely eyed, and not very good at grammar, but seems to know what he's talking about.

The point is, Stupids have always been around, and will probably always be around. But, if one or two stand up to them in order to do what's right over what's commanded, maybe it'll make a difference somewhere, sometime.

I think this history should be taught in schools. I think if kids were exposed to this knowledge, where right and wrong are clearly cut, maybe there wouldn't be so many bullies. If our kids were taught the other side of the story, the story where this land is NOT your land, but MY land (from the government's point of view), then maybe kids would grow up with a different perspective of what our country should be. I remember singing the first two verses of that song (propaganda) in elementary school, oblivious to the truth. I think kids should know the truth. They need both sides of the story. And not just the truth about our relations with Indians, but our relations with all peoples. The line in the sand that divides US and THEM should be wiped out with Kit Carson's boot.

Why did we only sing the first two verses? What would happen if kids refused to sing just those verses, but would only sing the whole song, or nothing?

Or with the shoes of a billion schoolchildren.

Pieces of Me

I had several ideas for the name of this post. Like "Nerds are the Best," or "When Old and New Meet." But I decided on the title you see because the couple videos I'm going to show you are things that really, really move me. (You can click the full screen option on each video by clicking the broken square on the bottom right.)

I love music. My taste in music is varied, and I can find a song or few I love in almost every genre, except rap. I guess I'm old fashioned that way. I love when music combines old and new ideas, like taking some very awesome violin and a capella sounds to make an extraordinary visual and auditory experience.

When I'm feeling motivated, or a little down, music is sure to get me moving or put a smile on my face, and just plain make me feel better. A couple years ago, I found a few EXTREMELY talented musicians...on YouTube.

The first is Lindsey Sterling. She plays violin, and I don't think anyone plays it better. In this video, she combines three things I very much enjoy...violin, dragons and Dragon Age. She's a nerd like me, and her imagination and artistry outdo my own. To me, the subtlest nuances in these videos convey a deep meaning to me. Like in this one, where the warrior gives Lindsey a sideways glance of acknowledgment, and she returns it with a slight nod...so much meaning in such a small act. And most people don't even notice...

This is another of Lindsey's videos. If it doesn't lift your heart, you are an alien. Another reason I like Lindsey is because she's also a great person in real life, with a genuine caring heart.

Then there's Peter Hollens. This guy is just an all around great guy. I was drawn to his videos when I discovered that he and Lindsey Sterling did a cover of the Skyrim theme, Peter uses just his voice, over multiple tracks to create some very awesome music. I also like his usually upbeat songs. He's done covers of lots of songs, from times past and present. In all these videos, you can tell these guys are doing what they LOVE, and doing it well...

But then I found this one last night, and I realized that each of these songs represent a little of me, and maybe that's why I'm so touched by them. Listening to them reminds me about something about myself and life I've experienced. The lyrics and sounds combine to make something meaningful to me. Each of these tell a story about a piece of my life that bring back both painful and joyful memories. This one tells the story of a piece of my childhood, although it doesn't define my childhood. But I'd be lying if I said there weren't times during my awkward youth that I wasn't singing this song in my head. 

Here's another by Lindsey Sterling I like. I know it's a little corny, but the violin is fantastic, and you have to admire her for her imagination. And I can imagine how fun this video must have been to make. Lindsey's a great storyteller, both in dance and music... If only our wars were fought with violins and guitars...

And this next one is one of my all time favorites. It's Lindsey with an a capella group, Pentatonix. I love when an a capella can do this with no other instruments than a violin and cello. At the 1 minute mark is my favorite--that super slight pause and the flip of the violin bow to go into the chorus. The imagination and quality of these videos astound me. They're better than what the "super famous" musicians do, by far.

I do dabble with guitar, can play a little piano, and I can even play a very little violin. But I wish I had even a minuscule amount of Lindsey's talent. I realize my talents lie elsewhere, but for me, there's nothing more moving than the violin...

We are all important and unique. Each one of us is a multi-faceted gem, and I hope you enjoyed a peek into a few facets of me. You might find a piece of yourself in these videos, too, or your facets may be different colors, but they're ALL beautiful. Art and inspiration is where YOU find it.

Here's a bonus track from Pentatonix, for the older folks who read my blog...

Mother Nature's Sense of Humor

This weekend, it pretty much stormed constantly, so outdoor activities were ruled out. The kids are in California with grandparents and cousins, so what did I do? I put a lot of my ideas on Dal's blog in an attempt to put some new thoughts out there.

If you want to see what I wrote, it was mostly on Seeker's story about abstract thinking. And some on The Nine Clues.

Diggin Gypsy and her sister, Sweet Tea, also posted their story.  During their search they found an urn in what was basically a snake pit. The urn was a simple white container with the word "Doc" on it. Was it someone's beloved dog? Or as someone pointed out, could it have been a DOCument? As Forrest said, "Sometimes it's wise for the fox to dress as the hound." And he did say that whoever found it had to EARN it. The urn they found looks sorta like this:

The real pic is on Dal's blog. It's a fun story...you should check it out!

Diggin and ST didn't open it, but they shook it before they were attacked by snakes. Personally, I don't think they were being attacked. Maybe the snakes were just answering the door. Maybe they would have invited them inside for cookies. Or maybe they were wanting to kill them. Who knows with snakes?

Anyway, they shook it, and said it sounded like ashes, so they didn't peek inside. I think they need to go back and peek. I don't think Doc would mind. You can find the story on Dal's blog under the title "Snakes Galore."

But the ashes got me to thinking...and the more I thought, the more it became clear that the poem might be about life. Why does Forrest refer to and hint at ashes so much? Because of the phrase, "Ashes to ashes and dust to dust?" We came from dust and return to dust. When we are just ashes, we are "leftovers of time," right? "To the dirt we are Caliph, and to the Caliph we are dirt." Just another instance of the idea that what is one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Not to be insensitive, but Olga and her father and Skippy, when they died, became ashes. Ashes aren't worth anything to most people, but to their loved ones, ashes are treasure. It's all that remains, something tangible, of someone who impacted their life in a big way.

And I really am starting to think that you do have to start the blaze to find the chest. A definition of found is start, and if you've brought the suggested flashlight (a lighter or match or even a literal flashlight--there's a handy Boy Scout trick where you can use a flashlight to start a fire), you have what you need. After the blaze has kooled quickly down, what remains are ashes. Forrest said that a part of him is inside the chest. So, when you lift the chest, Forrest, like the Phoenix, will also rise from the ashes.

I'd be surprised if I looked down and saw a chest that wasn't there a couple minutes ago. I would definitely have a marvel gaze.

The thing is, the place to start the fire would have to be safe. You can't just go lighting fires everywhere. Smokey is a bear, and he would not be happy, and you are not supposed to poke bears. So, where could you safely start a fire? A fireplace. A well. A cistern. A smelter. A kiln. Maybe those are the kinds of places we need to look. There are lots of abandoned free standing fireplaces and kilns all over the Rockies, and fireplaces are often the only leftovers of a home that once sheltered a family.

And didn't Forrest say in TFTW that his home on Main Street burned down? And I might be wrong on this, but didn't he say it burned down twice?

Maybe to find the chest, we have to first reduce the poem to ashes, then go to the spot, and again reduce what we find to ashes.

Maybe I'm right. Maybe I'm not. But I think I'm going to use my red letter theory to see what I can pull from the ashes. I already have a good idea of where it is, but I need positive proof. Somehow, the poem reduces to a location. Not coordinates or numbers, but a name. And I think I know it.

We will see!

Trumped

I was going to write a post about some literary term, but I woke up to some morning news so scarily laughable I have to post about it again.

Donald Trump is planning to announce his bid for the Presidency today....again.

Now, I don't know Mr. Trump, so I can't make any claims against him as a person, because as we all know, the media isn't exactly known for accuracy.

We can, however, use some facts to paint a fairly reliable picture of his qualifications to be the leader of our country.

Let's take Leslie Knope's (from Parks and Recreation) favorite way of making a decision--the pros and cons list.

Okay, so let's talk about Mr. Trump.

PRO: His mother is Scottish. I am of Scottish descent.

CON: He has Scottish blood, and we all know what that means. (forgive my stereotyping, but remember, I'm Scottish, so I'm making fun of myself. However, let it be known that if you stole my bike, I would NOT kill you.)

Donald Trump may have traveled to Scotland just to put up this sign.

PRO: Donald Trump knows how to make money. He's a shrewd business man. He's worth about 9 billion dollars.

CON: Donald Trump knows how to lose money, declaring business bankruptcy at least four times and coming close to personal bankruptcy several times as well.

PRO: Donald Trump is not a politician.

CON: Donald Trump is not anything but a business man, one who would rather kill a country and "take their oil" rather than live in peace. Becoming rich at the expense of lives and without regard for humanity is one of the most awful things ever.

PRO: Donald Trump is diverse. He's everywhere. We have Trump Towers, Trump Model Management, Trump Shuttle, Trump International Golf, Trump Pro Wrestling, Trump Books, Trump Ice, Trump Mortgage, Trump This, Trump That, etc...

CON: Donald Trump is a narcissist.

Ambiguity in politics. I have to love this. Bragging about beating a girl is not nice. And I don't know, maybe it would be fun to watch them duke it out (that was NOT a political endorsement for Hillary Clinton).

PRO: Donald Trump is an open book. What you see is what you get. Although opinionated, probably racist, and a womanizer, at least he doesn't hide it.

CON: Donald Trump is an opinionated, racist, womanizer.

Donald Trump OWNS The Miss Universe Pageant.

PRO: Donald Trump fires people. A lot of people in government desperately need to be fired.
CON: Donald Trump would probably fire the wrong people.

PRO: Donald Trump supported Ronald Reagan early on.
CON: Donald Trump supported Mitt Romney.

CON: Donald Trump knows nothing about public service. Money is not the measure of a man's character. Money and fame and a big mouth don't equate to intelligence (as Forrest might say).

PRO: We don't have to worry about Donald Trump running for President. He's a broken record, beginning in 1988 and following his theme of attempting to grab the spotlight in 2000, 2004, and 2012.

So, I guess this was a pointless political post. GO, JEB!