Time and 79 or 80

When Mr. Fenn wrote, "So when Catcher in the Rye was done I threw it in the trash where it landed right on top of a Time Magazine,” many have speculated why did he mention Time, I mean he really could have just said he throw it in the garbage. There have been several other hints to time such as the hint of Thyme in the spice drawer. From TTOTC: “…hidden from life for a million sunsets? After a violent ending, they have been swallowed up in a serenely beautiful place, and at the same time, hidden by the ravages of time and nature. Then there is the interesting Shakespeare quote, "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players. They have their entrances and their exits, and one man in his time plays many parts.” Reference to Olga, “Time had taken them apart but it eventually brought them back together.” Then the more interesting one, “And like Eric Sloane, at age almost-eighty, I figured it was time to act.”

He spelled knowledge incorrectly when talking about Einstein. Einstein was famous for his theory of relativity, which he predicted time slows down as one approaches the speed of light. It was proven on the Apollo missions, which is why GPS has to adjust for Einstein’s time dilation. GPS works by measuring time differential of satellite signals reaching the receiver.

When one examines the poem there are references to time. Although spelled differently, from a puzzle maker perspective “I’ve done it tired and now I am weak” could be a hint to week and “too far to [walk]” sounds like 2:42 if one listens in a heavy drawl.

So what else can time have to do with the poem?

Mr. Fenn created an aberration when he said he hid the treasure 15 years after he got cancer. That would have put it in the 2003 time frame but he told us he buried it when he was 79 or 80 year old, which puts it around 2009 or 2010. Again his quote, “And like Eric Sloane, at age almost-eighty, I figured it was time to act” bring attention to both time and 79 or 80.

Since Mr. Fenn asked us to pay attention to aberrations when reading the book, it is possible that aberrations outside the book could point to inside. Since he said he was almost 80 when he wrote the book and made a joke that he could have said he was 79 and repeated 79 or 80 age references makes one wonder why he waited until then and why he likes to repeat those numbers. A good puzzle maker will find ways of placing hints where no one expects. This is a good example.

When looking in the book for references to warm to solve, where warm waters halt, this statement becomes very interesting:

“In the spring when the weather was warm,” has a nice connection since hot springs are a source of warm and hot water. Halt is a German word for halt and that is used for soldiers marching. March is a month that spring begins. “Begins” as in “begin is where warm waters halt.”

So what does “spring,” “halt” and “begin” have to do with the numbers 79 and 80? Well if one looks at the Julian calendar, they would note that over the last 100 years, spring has started on either March 20th or 21st which corresponds to day 79 or 80 of the year. Mr. Fenn thought of everything, and I am willing to bet that he chose to hide the treasure when he reached that age or if he did hide it 15 years after he got cancer like he said, the hint becomes even more intriguing.

Spring is an equinox, which means equal day and equal night and it has a twin the autumn equinox, which is on day 265 (coincidentally the exact number of gold coins in the treasure chest). There is an aberration attached to that date as well, Mr. Fenn wrote a scrapbook 148 about changing seasons but claimed it fell on 24 Sep (coincidentally my birthday), the problem is that is the wrong date, it is either the 22nd or 23rd. So why go into such detail explaining how the equinox works, but then screw up the date? I speculate that it is because it is an aberration for the hard working treasure hunters to find.

He called the scrapbook “Winds of Change” but he was clearly talking about “Seasons of Change” which happens to be an album containing the songs: "Alpha and Omega" and "Return of the Prodigal Son," many searchers can relate to at least the former song. Others will understand the latter.

When Forrest placed that odd-looking picture of the “axe man” staring up at the moon, many have wondered what could it mean. The moon derived the word “month” since that was about how long it takes for one orbit around earth. Month is another time reference but what no one to date has realized that the Egyptians invented the Julian calendar (Julius Caesar implemented it) and each month had a name associated with it. The month of September is called the Witumanoth ("wood month"), which has a strong correlation to poem’s words, “in the wood.” Is this the reason Mr. Fenn talk about Egypt so much last year? Is it possible that spring could be the answer to the clue but fall is when to act?

Considering the number of coincident connections to time or particularly spring/autumn. There is one other connection to autumn of which I am not at liberty to say at this time, but suffice to say when I reflect upon my wave theory and how there are so many of Mr. Fenn’s words that talk about a cycle it is hard not to get excited about how this could be a way to prove the where warm waters halt.

So I invite you to give examples of Forrest “cycle” or spring talk.

“But I know that as the season slowly change and the leaves of life fall and are reborn anew, so do the names of those who wade those waters and chalk the memories once again, this time for themselves. I hope they feel the reverence that I once did and now still do.” - TTOTC