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Phoenix of Blues LbNA #43482 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:Riversol
Plant date:Sep 10, 2008
Location:
City:Perkiomenville
County:Montgomery
State:Pennsylvania
Boxes:1
Found by: Aaronsmama
Last found:Jun 13, 2009
Status:FFFFFF
Last edited:Sep 10, 2008
(Clue/location changed 21 Nov 09 to avoid private property)

“Good morning! Today is Wednesday, September 10, 2008” I wake and through my grog hear National Public Radio reveal that the Large Hadron Collider in Cern is now operational, on its way to discovering new clues to the beginning of our Universe. The newscaster then reveals the region, having just been drenched by Tropical Storm Hanna, may see some additional harsh weather as Hurricane Ike looms closer. She voices additional concerns regarding the rising prevalence of the West Nile virus as well as the insecticides being sprayed to combat its mosquito carriers. Finally, I roll out of bed to take on my first task of the day: placing a letterbox.

After dressing, I open my laptop and print out the framework of my letterbox clue. Unable to resist, I also check out my Facebook account to make a move in a Scrabble game I’m playing with a friend. I then gather up my hand-carved stamp complete with a water-resistant storage box and I’m ready to go. I hop on my bike and pedal through Green Lane Park where I park my bike in the lot at Snyder and Deep Creek Roads. I then walk the Perkiomen Trail heading downhill along Deep Creek Road to lose myself in Nature and one of Nature’s by-products, human contemplation.

Sunlight cascades through the trees as I hike upon the gravel trail through a rambling meadow. I sit on a park bench not to rest but rather to slow down the flow of the moments. Too often I rush through my itinerary, or even worse engage in 21st century, multi-tasking, each leading to not fully being in the present. I find myself drawn to a small lavender flower among several others of its clan a meter in front of me. It doesn’t appear to be concerned about how the Universe formed in the beginning. I ponder the flower’s evolved petals briefly and then lose myself in unthought.

After a few minutes I continue down the Perkiomen Trail. My journey takes me past a local restaurant converted from a colonial era inn (one which incidentally offers one of the better supreme cheese steaks in the area on its menu—No Cheese Whiz, thank Velveeta!). A converted railroad bridge then crosses the Perkiomen Creek, its chain link fence preventing me from clearly viewing the water below. I continue down the trail, past an old mill. I then take care while crossing a couple busy roads along the way. My mind wanders along its own meandering path.

Before I know it I’ve come to a second bridge, which crosses another small creek, one which flows into the larger Perkiomen Creek a hundred meters distant. I stand arms akimbo as my thoughts glide in unison with the surface of the stream, The water runs clear and my mind touches upon my friendships of old. Several have withered beyond recovery while others grow strong still. Acceptance of past events both ill and grand is tough to come by sometimes, although if I don’t think too much about it, my mind does heal with that wondrous antibiotic called Time. Forgiveness of myself is my core pursuit, with the additional constraint to never forget my mistakes, so that future relationships might grow stronger by the benefit of their memory.

The patterns of the water soothe the uncertainty I feel. Perhaps the very water before my eyes, rippling and refracting, issued from Tropical Storm Hanna a few days ago. I imagine a hypothetical journey one molecule of dihydrogen oxide might have made--from sea to sky, cloud to hill, rivulet to creek, and there on to greater water streams to start the cycle anew.

CLOP CLOP CLOP. CLOP. A horse trotting over the bridge breaks the flow of my vision. I smile admiring the togetherness of horse and rider….then frown at the underlying oppression of equine by its human master. Such bittersweet duality.

I amble across the bridge and spot a trail through the fence leading down to the creek on the right, just beside a sign indicating the creek’s name as the Unami. Carefully I drop beneath the fence on the right and amble down the trail. Yet rather than approach the creek, I am attracted to the space beneath the bridge. The stone arch support above me, complete with keystone, must be over a hundred years old.

A large rectangular stone that might have been a sacrificial alter sits beneath the arch. More likely it is a leftover stone from the bridge’s construction. I sit here to lay out my letterbox contents, swatting away the occasional mosquito. Within the box I place a Ziplock bag containing a pen, ink pad, a one page explanation of letterboxing, and a journal for stamping, and of course, the stamp.

Looking up from my self-reflection, I spot a gargantuan dream of a tree from my sitting stone to the SSE. From a distance, I count the NUMBER of ancient primary boughs that extend ominously toward the sky, yet it sits on private ground that is off limits.

Within this tree I perceive the water molecule from my earlier ponderings. The molecular bond between its one Oxygen and two Hydrogen atoms has lasted several billion years, never tiring. Yet today the heat is sufficient to evaporate the microdroplet of water within which it resides.

Remaining on the sitting stone, I envision the well traveled water molecule rising from the nexus of the ancient tree and then catching a ride on the breeze.

I rise myself and return to the main trail via the same path I had descended. My mind's eye sees the molecule dancing in the the turbulent air continuing southward, and then careening to the right off the trail just after the fencing ends.

I follow this singular water molecule down the path, its trajectory akin to a willow-the-wisp of old. It bears left on the trail at each opportunity. The trail is a tad muddy, but in true LNT (Leave No Trace) spirit I walk through mud puddles on the trail with rising aplomb.

After a hundred and twenty-five eager steps into the wooded area, I come to a somewhat smaller tree of the same NUMBER of primary boughs on the left. A cross-breeze shoots the water molecule through the boughs. From the trail I sight through this tree's boughs and spot a thirteen foot stump, that is filigreed with white organic gems. The water molecule settles on a cool thermal beside this stump.

I sit upon the large log beside the stump where my friendly molecule disappeared. I then place the letterbox and its contents beneath the Y of the log and carefully hide it beneath some bark to keep the billion year old molecule company for as long as it chooses to stay there.

I take a moment to listen to the water running nearby and come to peace for a spell, like a sky-watcher's mind at dusk caught between the setting sun and a rising full moon.

And my day continues...

(This box is located close to my home, so if you'd like to walk this clue with the placer and exchange stamps and conversation, drop me an email.)