Friday, March 31, 2017

Reflections

In March 2013 I learned about Forrest Fenn’s hidden treasure thanks to the Yahoo homepage. It was all a lucky coincidence, however, because that was the default homepage on my Internet Explorer browser and I never use that browser.  I needed to use Internet Explorer for a specific website I was visiting - a site likely built in the 1990s and not updated since. So I popped open the browser and there was a box of gold staring me in the face. 

I read the article, did a little internet searching and in 30 minutes or so I figured I might actually have a chance at finding this thing. That was four years ago today. Some people don’t believe in coincidences. I might not either. 

As I'm about to embark on what may be my last search, I'm reflecting on some of the many things I've learned along the way. 


Inspired by the Chase and Forrest Fenn:
A quest never ceases. It just changes direction.

The end of the rainbow isn’t always the end.

There are some places where you should never go alone, unless you ought to.

If you look too quickly down, you’ll be staring at your feet.

Tomorrow never comes. It’s always today.

Clues are not hints and hints are not clues. And neither will get you very far if you don’t know where you’re going.

If you start at the beginning you’ll likely get lost.

Weather in the mountains can change on a dime.

A blaze is a blaze unless it’s not there.


Attributed to Forrest Fenn:
It is fun to arrange words in such a way that you have to smile at the end of a sentence.

Autobiographers always lean toward the subject.

It is important that I drink a martini at least once a year so I can continue to remember why I don’t like them.

All that I could remember was that I was not supposed to forget something.

He was so busy talking he didn’t hear what I was saying.

One should not let knowing a little bit be a substitute for learning more.

Life has been a rough draft of the place just ahead where the past will come alive again.

Each artifact that is not recovered is a book that will not be read.

Sitting quietly can bring many smiling rewards.

How do you know where the edge is, if you don’t go out there and look?

Having enough money is much better than having a lot of money, because casual cash propagates idle fingers.

Gaining experience isn’t always peaceful.

An interesting phenomena of homo sapiens as a species is that they will find a way to argue a point even when none exists.

(This is something Forrest wrote for Eric Sloane)
Mighty oaks from little acorns slowly grow
Then finally fall and wisp to naught,
But those who plant a seed of words
Live on in groves of human thought.

Sometimes principle is reason enough to abandon logic.

Stay in your job only if you love it.

Get out in the mountains and turn a log over to see what’s there.

Avoid those things that distract you from your self-esteem.

The key word is contentment. If you can find it, everything else has already fallen in place.


Fenn Favorites
“You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six.”~ Yogi Berra

When his wife asked him to change his clothes to meet the German Ambassador he said, “ If they want to see me, here I am. If they want to see my clothes, open my closet and show them my suits.” ~ Albert Einstein

“A hero is someone who can keep his mouth shut when he’s right” ~ Yiddish Proverb

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school” ~ Albert Einstein

“Intellectuals solve problems: geniuses prevent them.” ~ Albert Einstein

T. S. Eliot said:
We shall not cease from our exploration
And at the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time