A jolt in the air makes me think of the electricity room in The Franklin Institute, Augo may be on to something!
Iāve been trying to wrap my brain around this set of clues, but I feel like the things Iām pulling from it are more vague when taken as individual linesā¦so to approach it a different way, the first stanza is definitely giving me transportation-y vibes. Wheels, wings, and wires all fit into that (wheels would describe a lot of things, wings like airplanes, wires like cable cars or trolleys). The āthings that grow but arenāt aliveā is a tougher sell, but could be transportation networks expanding out or connecting. āTravel between north and southā could describe a lot of transportation features - roads, train lines, trails, etc, and ātwinkle in the skyā could be airplane related again.
So trying to think of transportation things that would be safe to checkā¦plenty of highways go north/south but walking around near those would be A Bad Plan. Something that came to me was that the only train line through town is oriented essentially north/south until you get a good ways away, something that appears to be unique on this particular railwayā¦so that might be worth a shot to look into. Otherwise, thereās a small airport near me but I donāt think I could get close to it.
That might be a long-shot or a highly over-thought interpretation, so Iāll keep brainstorming, but I thought Iād put it out there in case it jogs something with someone else too.
Everytime I think of airplanes as a clue, I can only think of Wright-Paterson Airforce Base and the US Air and Space Museum, the only things near me. Only one of those is accessible though, for reasons.
Do any of us live near a spacecraft launch platform?
I tried walking around outside the butterfly enclosure just now, as well as the garden they have out there. No dice.
Iāll have to see when I can get out to the Millhopper againā¦
I walked all around inside our aerospace engineering building, which has a replica of the Apollo capsule and other general space/plane bitsā¦no luck though. Iām still holding out hope for the train station, but I donāt think I can work in a walk out that way until Saturday.
Thereās a place called butterfly world thatās close to me
Howās it going Mounties? Any new ideas pop up over the weekend? Iām stymied with book stuff but Iāll take another long look at the riddle and see if I can come up with some new ideas. Please feel feee to join me.
Afraid not. The shear number of possible combinations, the sparse descriptions, coupled with my complete and utter lack of knowledge of the area around where I live (Spoiler: I hate the area I live in) means unless I get stupendously lucky and wander blindly into the area, I doubt Iāll find it if one of those clues is near me.
I still think a good starting step would be to figure out how the one memory we did stumble on relates to the poem. That would start to give us a framework for the poem and eliminate parts of it. But Iāve had no luck doing that.
Well, I have today offā¦
The responsible thing for me to do would be to get myself presentable, scrounge up the entrance fee, and try to give the Millhopper another walk-around before it rains (the stairs down are still closed, the news said a couple weeks ago that they may end up replacing them rather than just repairing).
Then again, I just woke up, so letās see if I can manage it (if not, I can try again Friday or Saturday).
Iām gonna try some og Mountaineer detective work.
Okay, so we haveā¦ (yes, Iām quoting myself)
I agree with @Viviane that the first stanza could be broken down into six clues:
On wheels
Or wings
On wires
Or things that grow but arenāt alive (My bet for @Remus 's clue)
That travel between north and south
Or twinkle in the sky
And weāre assuming all six first stanza clues could be paired with the second stanza clues:
A link in the address
Where gold bubbles flow
A mill I can reach
And minerals low (My bet for @Remusās clue)
A meeting of waters
A jolt in the air
Regarding @Remus 's clue: My gut is that the museum being started with a mineral collection feels right, but having nothing to back that up other than it feeling all old andā¦ AGP-y.
But I also think that might be a tip that these could be museums. You do āwanderā around museums (a stretch, I know) So, going down that road we now have five potential pairs left:
- One that pairs with some wheeled form of transportation.
- One that pairs with flight or a flying form of transportation.
- I think āon wiresā and āa jolt in the airā is a pretty sure bet for a match.
- @Cj_Heighton knows āA meeting of watersā relates to Kamloops so we just need to find the one that pairs with that.
- Gold bubbles seems like it relates to champagne but I donāt know how that relates to any remaining first stanza cluesā¦ France? A town called Champagne?
I realize I have offered no help whatsoever or discovered anything you havenāt already discovered.
One thingā¦ and this seems ridiculousā¦ but thinking about ānorth and southā and the first line of the second stanza: a ālink inā the address. Could ālink inā be an oronym?
Link in =? Lincoln?
Good to see you roll up your sleeves and wade in, @Saberlane! Once a Mountaineer, always a Mountaineer.
Wow. Thatās amazing! Have to agree with @Augustus_Octavian; Once a Mountaineer, always a Mountaineer. Also, could āon wiresā and āa jolt in the airā refer to a trollie or train? If I remember correctly, thereās a Mountiee with lives in Seattle were a magline? was put up for a World Fair.
Heres what I found on the Province called Champagne, Iām trying to think if we have any French Mounties? If not, has anyone been planning a trip? If not, I think its safe to cut this from our current list of working theories.
EDIT
Heres a USA town in Illinois called Champaign, I know the spelling is different butā¦ I know its a lot more local to some of you.
Donāt know if this would work, but I have Champaign County right next to me.
I live in Sidney btw.
I think it would be worth exploring for sure!
THERES A HYDROELECTRIC DAM HERE.
Hhhhh. Okay. Gonna go track it down today.
Champaign, Illinois would make a lot more sense, I think. We donāt have any French Secret Society members, as far as Iām aware.
Looks like theyāve got a couple museums in the area. I noticed they have a planetarium. Could āWhere gold bubbles flow or twinkle in the skyā be the full clue?
Edit: @Mr5yy - Is the Aviation Museum near you? Maybe the clue is āon wingsā?
Sabes, what if āMinerals lowā is also an oronymous clue? Minerals + āLowā-gan Museum?
And I donāt know about travelling, but North and South + Lincoln makes me think of the Lincoln Memorial (which I pass periodically on the interstate)ā¦not a museum, per se, but maybe close enough to be worth checking out?
Edit: Lincoln + address. Gettysburg Address. That was a real thing. Feeling like I should maybe hit up the National Mall.
For the moment, all locations are probably worth checkign out if possible.