Ultramatic

America’s Packard Museum will take us back 100 years, where Cache Owner Riversurfer’s furtive hide is a relative young ‘un, at 20 years old.

Driving down Ludlow Street in downtown Dayton, our geotrail passes through the Peace Museum.

Here people gather to express the basic human longing to live peaceful lives. On the back wall, trip wire knitted into thousands of loops reflects the daily count of deaths and injuries in Iraqi and Afghanistan conflicts.

Across the Mediterranean Sea, just a hop away from the boot-shaped Italian peninsula, lie the regions of Serbia and Croatia. Bordering the Balkan Mountains, rich with natural resources and sea ports, they have been a flashpoint of conflict, at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East and Asia. One day a Serb shot an Austrian, and World War I began.

By 1990, Bosnia existed as a pluralistic society. People practiced their politics and faith freely. This bothered their neighbors, Serbia and Croatia, who were fearful that free thought would seep across their borders. Over a four year period, one million Bosnians were murdered in an effort to take over their land. NATO bombings had little effect on the conflict. Wartime economy continued to thrive.

People of conscience were not silent. In 1995, Dayton and Wright-Patterson became Ground Zero for peace negotiations. In our museum rests the story of this search for peace.

The resulting Accords froze military confrontation and ethnic massacres. It provided for free elections and a Bosnian constitution. On the wall before us, simple wishes.

Ghandi also lives at this museum, in words and thoughts which changed the world.

Twenty years after his death, Ghandi would reach across oceans to inspire peace for all peoples in our nation.

His words follow us as we walk back out into the sunshine on Ludlow Street.

Our coordinates land at the Packard Museum, former Packard dealership, built in 1917.

Here the glittering self-propelled vehicles first charmed us and attracted life-long passion.

The open road called us, and ever-expanding arteries covered small towns and farms.

In this Where’s Waldo scenario, find a tiny crown jewel.

The century-old building peeps out and winks.

As we walk away, a car pulls up.