Α Ω (Kid Stuff)

Or is it a dream?

This place where “warm waters halt”.  This place in the shadows of the Continental Divide.  This place that has awed and inspired, roused and stirred.  This place that’s been traveled and searched but never really known.  This time just beyond – as real as the here and now yet fog-like as is the past.

And so we approach the omega somewhere just over the horizon.  As our vision approaches the boundary, the details become less and less discernible until they drop from view completely and we’re left once again with pure speculation.  But that contemplation of the unknown is what captures the imagination - touches the soul.  It’s the stuff of dreams. 

Our arrival in this space is founded in American law - the instruments of titles and deeds of ownership.  Perhaps a shiny new key.  All possessed with the assistance of the United States Postal Service.  These events set in motion with fireworks and messages of congratulations along with an invitation to enter the name and address of the lucky contestant.  Yes, luck plays a major role, but the name and password (each 24 digits) and which trigger all this excitement require anything but chance.  Indeed, simply locating this obscure website somewhere in the vastness of the internet will demand a large degree of precision.  But the home page adorned with flowers and butterflies is a vision of fantasy.  A domain where childhood cartoon friends and Hollywood actors past spring to life kindles the imagination.  Yes, this is the province where the challenge of the impossible is overcome and illuminated.  Together, they bring a smile.

Someone once said “the devil is in the details”.  And with that we crash back to reality.  Here in the present hour is the time and place where dreams roll into theory.  And the cold reality of those 24 digit codes stare us in the face.  And as with life itself, one theory demands another and another again.  So, to make the story short, let’s just focus on three foundational theories and view them from the proverbial 30,000 feet: 

1)  Forrest Fenn’s book, The Thrill of the Chase, contains any number of “minor” clues as to where to find his treasure.  But the most “critical” clues are the last.  And those last few clues are encrypted amongst the writing.

2)  Find the specific text that holds the encrypted messages.  For that we need directions - a “map” so to speak.  The “minor” clues lead to all manner of things, i.e. national parks, the internet, The Bible, popular movies, artwork, novels, etc.  And from these we gather information from which to puzzle together the “map”.

3)  Decipher the encrypted messages.  And for this we need to build a “machine” based on a blueprint.  And again, we piece together the blueprint from information gathered by following the “minor” clues.  Now, what the final version of this “machine” looks like is anyone’s guess but here’s a hint:  one part Enigma Machine, two parts Mickey Mouse watch, three parts better mouse trap – with a splash of Antikythera Mechanism thrown in for spice and a pinch of sextant for a little pizzazz.

It reminds of another “machine”.  A machine dubbed the Stealth Treasure Arrest and Retrieval System - STARS IV for short.  Version four was perfect.  Designed to retrieve the chest of gold (11” x 11” x 6” and 42 pounds guesstimate) laying a few feet below the surface of slowly moving water without attracting the curiosity of every fisherman and tourist within eye shot.  Nonchalantly wade in as if angling for a prize Brown, casually attach the machine to the chest resting peacefully on the river bottom, and smoothly slide it all up onto a serene and secluded bank. 

Easy.  Peasy.  Done.

Sadly, STARS never made it off dry land.  Perhaps for the better.  The arresting part of the contraption might have worked.  The stealth part – maybe not so much.  The sight of its 60 year old inventor thrashing, entangled, and gasping profanities while going under in the cold mountain runoff might have raised an eyebrow or two.

But before STARS could ever be initiated, the theory that brought it to life fell apart in any number of ways.  Just a few short weeks into The Chase and the first of so many theories that have gone wanting came up snake eyes.                     

Nonetheless, the alpha began along the Firehole River as it meanders through the meadows and gathers the steaming waters from the numerous geothermal features of the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park.

“Begin it where warm waters halt”.

To start with a theory.