UPDATE: 6.1.08 It appears that
there may be too much work to get to the final solve on this
one. I really want you to experience all of the locations,
but, if that's proving to be too much work, then the cache
has no purpose. So, from today forward, if you can identify 4
of the 8 lines and e-mail me the correct locations, I will
give you the coordinates for the final solve.
CACHE IS NOT AT THE ABOVE COORDINATES It is at
N44°1x.xxx W°88.2x.xxx
Inspired by recent conversations with some of
my artist friends, I decided to explore the valley a bit and share
with you some of the places where each of them have left an impact
on the physical and metaphysical landscape of the Valley.
The Artisans of Appleton series will reveal to you just how much
our cherished Fox Valley artists have contributed to the arts and
culture of this place. It should make you proud call the Valley
your home.
This cache is about our very own
Ellen Kort, Wisconsin's first Poet Laurette.
I had the distinct pleasure of working with Ellen on a book that
some of you may be familiar with, "The Art of Labor". I was
responsible for taking Ellen's eloquent verse any graphically
marrying it to Kurt Knoke's unassuming photographs for the book.
The Art of Labor is on the shelves of local Libraries and there is
also a personal copy at the Visitor's Center on College Ave.
Ellen's words can be seen in various installations around the
valley and also beyond it in Places like Milwaukee and Winnona,
Minnesota. Her impact on the lives of the people and community
around her are felt far and wide as described in this poem:
NURSE LOG
for Ellen Kort. Inspired by the sight of a fallen log in a swale
pond at The Ridges Sanctuary,
and by everything else.
Ellen,
you are the tree that has fallen across
our mingled waters,
giving of your own substance
and gathering fertile media from elsewhere
that we may grow, diverse,
each after our own habit
and heredity – here a wispy tamarack,
there a pelt of moss. Round-leaved sundew is here,
she who catches insects in her sticky pinkness
and does not let go. So, too, willow herb
and plantain and still more,
broad leaves and narrow, flower buds and none,
some reaching for warmth and light,
others better served by trailing
towards dark waters. Fecundity reigns
in this sanctuary; nearby a water-thrush bathes, attended
by emerald-eyed dragonflies and serenaded
by wren and by nuthatch, while the marauding deerfly
awaits the naive warm-blooded. Understood or not,
all forms of life are nurtured here. It is good that we have
such a place, such a tree
to foster our being.
– Kathy Dodd Miner, Madison
I have listed various locations, around the valley (including Green
Bay), where you can see Ellen's words. I have also included places
beyond the valley (including Green Bay) as bonus locations which
when visited, will allow you to log this cache again by supplying
one line of the Kort poem you see there [in a private e-mail].
1: Green Bay Botanical Gardens
2: Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Center
3: Midwest Express Center
4: Sister Bay Library
5: Appleton Heart Institute
6: Fox River Mall
7: City Center Plaza
8: Appleton Public Library
9: Neenah Public Library
Here's the puzzle, with Ellen's permission, I have combined a
single line form her various installations into one poem. What you
need to do is determine the location of each line and then
substitute the location number for the line to determine the final
coordinates.
I have been here a very
long time
At night I wear a dark coat
Rich and full and wide
Outside the window How can we
Listen... Every heart knows how to sing
The way stories rest
Like a rose
Welcome(ing) each turning of the year.