GISH is The Greatest Scavenger Hunt started and organized (if you could use that word to describe it) by Supernatural actor, Misha Collins. It is in its tenth year, and this will be my eighth participating. This year was a little different due to the pandemic, and Collins, his GISHGnomes, and the players really stepped up to provide food and water to those in need while also giving us a well-deserved respite from home isolation.
There were three GISH hunts held this year (and one more still coming up for Halloween); two mini hunts, one in April and one in May and our regular week long hunt in August. The mini hunts were unusual in that they were about twenty-four hours long and they were meant to be done while on home quarantine.
They were a break from the daily pandemic news, and let us take a breath and do more than fret and worry about what was happening. They included a kids’ menu with items especially for our stuck at home kids to do, either with us or on their own.
The big hunt in August was similar to past hunts but most items were meant to be done at home or on social media. No in-person gatherings according to local laws. There were also several tributes to John Lewis who had recently died, inspirational items, and items that were civic minded like protesting, prison reform, and voting including our rights and registration drives.
The registration monies went to No Kid Hungry, which you can still donate to individually.
I can only give you my August totals. I was not great about keeping track of the mini-hunts for points. I contributed to a total of fifteen items, seven of which were individual, the other eight being team items for a total of 214 individual points and 480 team points totalling 694 points.
I have to be honest, but I enjoyed these hunts more than I’ve enjoyed some of the previous years. I like the civic mindedness, the social justice aspects, the caring for neighbors, random acts of kindness and compassion.
I would encourage people who are curious to join the Halloween H(a)unt. Each registration donates money to UNICEF providing clean water for a person in need for six months. Registration ends on October 23rd, and the H(a)unt will go live Oct. 30 – Nov. 1.
The captions on the following photos will explain the items. For the spring mini-hunt, I have them listed as April/May although they may have been done for either:
Steve Wozniak’s 70th GISH birthday bash continues! Create a travel brochure for your “Happy Place.” It should exemplify whatever, whoever, or wherever makes you happy. Describe it in the copy of the brochure and post a copy of it on social media tagged #GISH, #HappyPlace & #WozDomDay3 Submit the original image with a link to your post in comments.
Writer’s Block
You have Merit, too! There are so many things you know how to do, and do well — as well as many things that you are just good at naturally, like being a good friend. Create a sash and decorate it with two or more merit badges identifying all the things about yourself that you are proud of. If the badges don’t make it clear, make sure to list their meaning in a footnote at the bottom of the image.
Hand-write a poem about Sam, Dean, Castiel and Jack written in heroic couplet, triadic-line poetry, or quatrains, depending on the number of characters you use.
Create a message of hope on your mask. Wear it proudly.
Mobilize, Gishers! Get at least 10 NEW people to register to vote and pledge to vote in the next election of their respective countries. Submit a video of photos of all the new voters you’ve mobilized each holding a sign that says, “I will vote.” 10 points per new registrant up to a possible 200 points per team, with bonus points for impressive numbers of registrants. On your honor… no cheating!
(TEAM GRID ITEM) Some people have politicized the wearing of masks as a violation of freedom. Create a stealth mask that people can wear around anti-maskers without stirring controversy: paint a photo-realistic face of YOUR face on a mask so casual observers won’t know that you’re actually a thoughtful citizen. Take a photo of each member of your team wearing their own not-a-mask mask and submit a grid image. You should all be recognizable wearing masks that look like yourselves. (TO BE CLEAR: Nobody is to share masks. That’s just gross and dangerous! Each team member should wear their own mask that looks like their own face and model it.)
The Black Lives Matter movement inspired a lot of people to take action to address the realities of police brutality and the oppression that people of color live within many parts of the world every day. Thousands of people from all walks of life have been protesting, but with shelter-in-place restrictions and health considerations due to COVID, not everybody who has wanted to attend a rally or protest has been able to do so. We’re changing that. We’re hosting a virtual rally: post an image of yourself holding a poster with a message supporting equality or calling for an end to police brutality. Tag it #GISH4Equality and encourage your friends and teammates to participate, too. Then, submit your photo grid of yourself with your poster as well as the photos of other friends and teammates that joined in. Please submit the original picture grid of yourselves with your posters, NOT a screenshot of your posts.
April/May mini-hunt: Create a Couch Potato.
Write a haiku about washing your hands. Display it in your bathroom.
NOTE: This was done in April for the mini-hunt, and it is still in my bathroom at the sink.
April/May mini-hunt: Create a public THANK YOU to essential workers. #NYTOUGH
April/May mini-hunt: Create something wearable only from items in your junk drawer.
April/May mini-hunt: Instagram influencers everywhere carefully curate their feed to present an idyllic existence, but you . Instagram influencers everywhere carefully curate their feed to present an idyllic existence, but you’re not about that performative lifestyle. Buck the dramaturgical social mores of modern social media: make an Insta of A Terrible Life. Include all the lowlights of 2020: political arguments, COVID news, images of you failing or burning your toast or stubbing your toes, with at least 6 images all beautifully shot with “plandid” photography. Submit a grid and a link to your Instagram. Make sure it’s public so we can see it! ’re not about that performative lifestyle. Buck the dramaturgical social mores of modern social media: make an Insta of A Terrible Life. Include all the lowlights of 2020: political arguments, COVID news, images of you failing or burning your toast or stubbing your toes, with at least 6 images all beautifully shot with “plandid” photography. Submit a grid and a link to your Instagram. Make sure it’s public so we can see it!
April/May mini-hunt: Write a haiku illustrating some silver lining of pandemic life that you have discovered.
The last item I did: (UP TO 2 MINUTES) Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis recently passed away. At his funeral, former President Obama read his eulogy, and Former Presidents Clinton and Bush also made remarks. Listen to all three memorial speeches, then write a single paragraph about commonalities between the three speeches.
For my video, I also added a photo of Rep. Lewis and a musical introduction. It was very amateur looking but it was sincere. This is the prose:
John Lewis was a hero of mine and so I was honored to be asked to do this item, and I was so happy to see several items related to his life’s work: voting and voting rights.
It is something when three Presidents speak about you in the kind of glowing terms they did for Congressman Lewis. Each has their own style, their own memories, their own friendships to cherish and to share, but they all had a few things in common.
Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama are all preachers in their own ways. Not the same kind of preacher that John Lewis was and went to school for, but they all have that way of speaking, of calling witness to a man’s life. From a young age, John Lewis was called to be a minister who took care of others and this began with preaching to his chickens and if one became dinner, his first non violent protest was a hunger strike. He always preached the Gospel in Word and Deed.
All three praised the way he brought the power of working together, keeping on the move, always moving towards his beloved community, knowing that as far as we go, the work doesn’t end here.
All three gave a history lesson of the civil rights movement which can’t be told without John Lewis at the forefront: Nashville sit-ins, the Freedom Rides, the youngest speaker at the March on Washington, and of course Bloody Sunday on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
John Lewis was a gentle, humble man, always longing to do what’s right. He always saw the best in the rest of us; never giving up, and never not speaking out. He believed in us even when we don’t believe in ourselves and he gave us our marching orders to the beloved community: Never give up, never give in, and get into good trouble, necessary trouble.
Rest in eternal peace, oh good and faithful servant.
Griffins and Ginger Snaps 