Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Throwing caution to the wind . . .


When we (Big Blue Team) first started planting letterboxes we found the most frustrating thing was how quickly some of our boxes would go missing especially in the Waterworks/Dalewood area.  So we placed restrictions on all our boxes, allowing only experienced letterboxers to see the clues on Atlas Quest.  We haven't lost many boxes since then.  This makes us happy.

This fall a group of local Girl Guides wanted to go letterboxing.  The leader came over and learned all about letterboxing including a simple carving method for the girls that didn't include using sharp tools.  I was confident that our boxes would be safe under her care.

Because we knew the girls would be hunting in one location, Hal and I decided we should go double check on our boxes in that area to make sure they were all still safe since our last check in the spring.  A couple were gone.  In one case the log which had been home to our box had completely disintegrated and the box was no where to be found.  The other was just gone.  Considering the number of boxes we have planted in Pinafore Park we thought these were acceptable losses.

I went home and updated all the boxes and printed off a copy of all the clues for the Girl Guides, since they couldn't see the clues because of the restrictions I had set.

As I am snooping around at all the boxes planted in the St. Thomas area I realized just how few of our boxes were found this year.  I thought this was odd considering how much time I spend talking about letterboxing on different social media sites.  And then I started wondering just how many potential local boxers I had discouraged because they could only find a couple of local boxes to hunt.

I wondered what was more important, sharing our boxes or protecting them and came to a decision to remove all the restrictions from my boxes and set them free.  I'm going to take a chance.  What good is a safe box if no one actually finds it?

So if you are looking for something fun, different and accessible to the whole family, young and old . . . try letterboxing over the Christmas holidays.  You will have the fun of solving the clues and going on a treasure hunt to follow the clues and find the boxes.  Ontario letterboxers make every effort to make our boxes winter-friendly.  To see all the boxes available in the St. Thomas area just click on this link.  

And if you want an experienced boxer to come along, just email me . . . LOL . . . I love any excuse to get out and letterbox and want to share my love of this hobby with others.



1 comment:

  1. And those girl guides had a blast finding them ... made the mistake of telling them about cooties too and I'm still getting cootied! Thanks again for all your help.

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