To The Last, I Grapple With Thee…

From Hell’s heart, I stab at thee; for hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee!

Full disclosure: I’m not really that invested. I am not a superhuman tyrant from the 20th Century nor possibly in love with Nathaniel Hawthorne. But I did conquer my white whale today! I have been looking for this cache near my home off and on for about three years, returning every few months to take another shot at it. And yet, I could never make headway with it. But I noticed that someone with relatively few finds found it a couple of weeks ago? Apparently, I was missing something, and I, as the song goes, ain’t too proud to beg. I reached out to him for a hint. He didn’t want to give me too much, so he merely mentioned to be careful when examining the grass because he had encountered a used meth pipe at the site.

Armed with new knowledge, I returned to the site. I looked through the grass and, after discovering the used meth pipe, finally found what I had sought for so long! It wasn’t even that hard, but weather could cause detritus and general crud to cover it over. I had looked in that spot a number of times, but somehow, I had never seen it until now. I signed it and happily claimed it, knowing that I would never have to see that pin on the map, haunting me with thoughts of failure. And if there is a moral to this story, it is “persevere.” And perhaps “don’t hesitate to reach out.” Victory requires no explanation!