50 Days of Remembering 50 Years Day #10

Letterboxing 

One fun hobby we had was similar to a treasure hunt. It's called Letterboxing. 

There is a website online where you find clues to boxes hidden, usually in the woods, but could be other places too. The clues tell you what town but from there you have to decipher the directions. Sometimes people will use nature--"turn left by the two sister trees" or "by the dog shaped rock" for clues in the directions. Some suggest you bring a compass, though not many. They will tell you to take so many steps to the next landmark and so on until you come to the place the box is hidden. It could be in a stone wall, under a tree hidden with leaves, or other places that are not so conspicuous to people just walking by. Now I will say that the clues are written by individuals, and some are well written, others were rather annoying and hard to follow. 

The box contains a notebook and rubber stamp; some will have an ink pad too but it's best you bring your own. To be a real letter boxer, you will have had to pick a name for your team, design a rubber stamp representing you and have a notebook (or we chose 3x5 cards) to collect stamps of where you have been. When you find a letter box, you stamp your stamp in the book that is there, and you sign your team's name. You can make a note about how it was finding the box or the weather that day or if you saw some kind of animal, etc. You take their unique stamp and stamp it in your book or note card to have a record of where you have been.

We were Minuteman and Lady W with a feather pen for our rubberstamp. We were amazed at the many places close to us that we never knew existed, an abandoned ski place, for one. You could choose letter box clues that led you on major hikes or try to find much easier ones, which was our choice. We really enjoyed our letterboxing adventures. It's a great outing for kids; they all enjoy scavenger hunts. It does appear as I look online (letterboxing.org) that there are fewer people doing it. Many of the clues are several years old and therefore, could lead to a dead end. We went on a few of those. It's disappointing when you don't have the reward of finding the box. 

For George's 60th birthday, I planted a letterbox called, "Make a Wish". I am just as bad as some people in that I never checked on it after we found it and re-hid it. You are supposed to see if they need maintenance--water could get in the box or it could be misplaced.

Our bodies don't really like hikes anymore. Enjoy what you can while you can! At least we have fun memories of a great way to pass the time in nature and often the reward of finding the "treasure". 

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Jeremiah 29:13