Christmas Eve Letterboxing

Somehow or another, we managed to wrap up all our Christmas running about yesterday, so we had today unexpectedly to ourselves. How nice! I convinced Fearless Fox and Lightning to accompany me on a close range letterboxing run to find JB Kokopelli's 7 Dwarves series.

I awoke a couple of times in the very early morning to the sound of rain. I had let the dog in about midnight last night because it was getting cold, so as I snuggled deeper into the quilts I knew it was not just raining but cold and raining! I pondered whether my compadres would notice the cold and the rain before I got them far enough from home that they would be my hostages for the day. FF, thinking the day was shot, planned to go up to his office and get a couple things done before next week. I told him I was going letterboxing anyway. He eyed me skeptically and I could sense that he was considering whether he could get me far enough from home that I would be his hostage for the day. Since I was already dressed down to socks and had my shoes in my hand, he realized he was far behind the game and that it would be best if he gave in, which he graciously did. He's a wise man. Lightning, bless his 10 year old heart, learned long ago that it is useless to protest over a few raindrops.

We left the house with clues in hand and headed first to New Summerfield with Fearless Fox behind the wheel. I had worked out my own plan to make a circuit from New Summerfield to Rusk and back to Jacksonville in a somewhat efficient manner. All I really needed him to do was drive and follow my directions. I'm sure many of you are now laughing hysterically at that idea - and rightly so. FF and I once took dance lessons and we did terribly because we couldn't agree on who was going to lead (he insists even still that leading is the man's job, to which I say "This is the 21st century and we should at least flip a coin to see who will lead!"). Well that same issue kicked in for this little endeavor. As I would describe to him where we were going next, he would say "Oh yeah, Blackjack. We can get there THIS way." To which I would say "The clues say nothing about Blackjack. This is how we need to go." Now when he is around, there is no need for a GPS or a compass or anything. Aside from having his own personal onboard compass, he's driven every backroad in Cherokee County countless times from his earliest driving experience. I swear - he knows every landmark in our county, right down to how many cows should be in the field where we are supposed to turn. He can even tell you how long ago they paved some of these roads! I finally gave in and left the navigation to him as well, and we were happier for it. Especially since there are times when he goes on one of my jaunts when he checks out entirely and makes me tell him every last little turn. Now THAT is a pain in the ...ANYWAY.

We got to Blackjack (he was right) and promptly found the cemetery. Got out and began our search for the box. Oops. No prob - I spotted it from several feet away. And when I got to it, the lid was partially off it. And when I opened it? The baggie inside was slit down the side. And don't forget - it was raining. This little series has been found numerous times in its short life, the most recent couple of finds being this week. Thankfully the logbook had not been exposed to the elements too long, and we got to it before the rain could fill the box. My first thought was - "this is going to be a long day". We took the box back to the car and dried it out and I replaced the baggie with the only one I had (where have all my baggies gone anyway???). It was a cool little cemetery, very secluded.

Off we went then, to the next box. By then I had told him my thoughts about our route for the day and he decided to change it up (of course). He felt we could get to a couple of them without going down the same road twice (he hates that). He left me in the car to regroup then, and ran into the store to get us all some juice. When he returned, I told him I didn't think his way would work because we didn't have road numbers for the next two boxes, only visual clues. He agreed and off we went. Somewhere along the way, we took a sidetrip (remember, I am NOTORIOUS for getting sidetracked!) and wound up going cross-country to get back to the route. As we were getting ready to make a turn to get back on track, we passed a church with a cemetery and I laughingly suggested we slow down to make sure it wasn't one of the two we were looking for. We did and it was! Once again, FF's astounding navigation put us right where we needed to be. We quickly collected Sleepy and I promptly stamped him in sideways, so he now sleeps standing up in MY logbook. Thankfully, Sleepy was well-hidden and sealed up tight.

We headed on down to the next box which was on the same road, only to get to the very end of the road with no sign of it. We quickly realized what we had done wrong and turned and went back to get it. We got to the OTHER end of the road and STILL hadn't come across it. By then, I was a little cross with JBK's clearly confused directions - why, she had even mixed up clues and swapped the cemetery names! I read the clues to FF and he suddenly started thinking it made sense, so I read them to him again - more loudly - because he was now definitely confused and it must've been because he couldn't hear me when I read them the first time. He started ignoring me and began driving, and before too long we were pulling up to the very cemetery that had evaded us. He then took a moment to very patiently explain to me that the road we were on intersected with the main road not once, but twice, and if we had taken the approach described in JBK's clues, we would've hit the right intersection first and been fine. As it was, our approach was cross-country, so we came to the second intersection without realizing it wasn't the right one. Suddenly I realized I had maligned JBK unnecessarily and I had been wrong all along. In soccer, we call this a coaching moment - a point where a player has blundered badly enough that they are finally willing to stop and listen to the coach, and at that moment they are very coachable. It's been a long time since I've made that same mistake, but I found myself once again coachable. I'm sorry, JBK, for doubting you!
We found ourselves at an amazing little cemetery - amazing in that it is so neglected and overgrown that you immediately get a sense of injustice to the souls residing there. I'm not one who gets needlessly sentimental about the dead, but it does seem that those who came before us deserve a little respect by virtue of being a part of our history.

Off we went again, this time on in to Rusk. Again, a nice little tour through an interesting cemetery.

We continued on, finding the fourth and fifth boxes, and by now FF was waxing complimentary. He normally refrains from any sort of critiquing when we go letterboxing. He's a true LSS and he goes because Lightning and I are entertained by it and because he enjoys hiking. However, from the first cemetery he began walking through them and noting graves of people who were alive at certain junctures in history. When he does this, he really brings a sense of perspective and life to the personal history in each cemetery and how it relates to our national and state history. By the fourth cemetery, he was very impressed with JBK's selection of sites and even of her choices of specific hiding spots. Up until then, he had returned to the car with me each time to help me with stamping in, but on the fifth and subsequent cemeteries, he was sending Lightning back with me so he could stay and look at headstones. I would then return the box to its hiding place, and return to the car where he was reading - except that on the last few, I would find myself back at the car and waiting on him.

We found a new HH in Doc's box. It is Snowshoe Dog '06, by Kat from Moab, UT. I spent a few days in Moab when I was 15. Cool. I'll send it on its way soon, but this is a pretty neat little HH - here's hoping y'all get to see it!

We had saved Dopey to be the last box - for one reason, it was the closest to home, but mainly because it was the box placed at Joan's (the J of JB Kokopelli) graveside. We felt it should be last, because it was here that our personal tribute to her would be completed. It was a lovely hiding place, and we had an opportunity to not only say hello to Joan, but to visit the graves of several young friends who have passed away in recent years.

We had such a good time today, Fearless Fox is now thinking of recarving his stamp and is ready to go on our outing scheduled for January 2nd. Lightning learned a new game that I hope he forgets very soon - he figured out that cedar trees can be great fun in the rain. Because of the shape of the leaves, water is trapped in cedar. Cedars also have low slung and flexible branches, so that if you flick the branch, you can make it rain. The first time this happened, he did it accidentally while I was retrieving a box, and I got soaked. He thought this was hilariously funny so he spent the rest of the day trying to catch us. We had managed to avoid his downpours, until the end of the day when I had momentarily forgotten and found myself under a huge cedar and got a torrential drench. I thought he and FF would both die laughing, which would have been appropriate since we were in a cemetery. I once again proved to my people that rain does NOT preclude letterboxing - it just calls for more creativity.

I would like to publicly thank Bindi (the B of JB Kokopelli) for placing this series. Walking through her Tribute to Joan was a great way to spend Christmas Eve, and most especially since FF enjoyed it so much and almost seemed disappointed that our letterboxing day was done. It was a great series - excellent stamps, excellent locations, and excellent clues. It reminded me that we letterboxers leave a legacy every time we plant a box, and that our legacy can offer enjoyment to other boxers if we leave them tended and protected.