"Don't follow me," I told my 8-year-old. "There's poison ivy in here. I'm just going to see if the letterbox is by that tree and then I'll be right back."
"OK," she said and proceeded to follow me anyway.
We did eventually find the box - which was not in the poison ivy - and washed our exposed skin in a nearby bathroom to avoid breaking out in a rash. Clearly I misunderstood the clue's directions to the location of the hidden letterbox.
You see, letterboxing is a game of hide and seek. Players hide boxes then post clues on a website so others can try to find their hidden treasure. Typically letterboxes are small containers with a logbook and in most cases, a hand-carved stamp (some do use store-bought stamps). To play, each person/family carries their own unique stamp so when a letterbox is found, they can stamp the box's logbook with it. Each player also carries their own logbook to make an impression of the letterbox's stamp to save as well.
Since most players carve their own stamps I decided to gather the supplies needed to make my own stamp, which required a flat eraser and a carving tool. My first attempt produced a very crude stamp in the shape of our family's silly mascot, the pink robot bunny. The kids hovered while I used the sharp carving tool and got a bandaid for me when I sliced my finger. After some deliberation and endless words of caution, they made their own stamps without incident.
After buying a blank-page notebook and packing up our stamps, the kids and I set out to find our first letterbox at the Art Guru in Gorham. We enjoyed chatting with the store's owner about the game and the kids found his box easily. The kids inked and stamped our own logbook with the box's stamp. In turn, they stamped our bunny stamp in the box's logbook. After the stamp exchange was done we admired all of the beautifully carved stamp impressions in the box's logbook.
The kids were enthusiastic about finding more stamps for our logbook so we went in search of more boxes.
The second letterbox we found was at a place of business that happened to sell ice cream and the kids declared letterboxing was "great!"
The next day I consulted www.letterboxing.org for more clues and ended up at yet another place of business that sold ice cream. When I asked the kids if they liked letterboxing, my 8-year-old replied with a nod and a big grin smeared with ice cream.
We had planned to do some hiking and found clues to boxes hidden around Douglas Mountain. We found the first box there without much trouble but after looking for about 30 minutes we gave up on the second one. It was hot and humid that day and my husband had a cold. Looking back, it was probably not the most ideal day for a longer-than-usual hike.
As we made our way back down the mountain my 10-year old commented, "We should have found a clue for another ice cream store mom."
My husband grunted his agreement.
Of the 8 boxes we found in a 3-week period, four were at, or next to, places of business while three required a short trail hike. Another was a "mystery box" that offered only a riddle and the county it was located in.
Letterboxers pride themselves on making up clever clues that take some research to solve. Because my family does a lot of hiking, we're familiar with trails in the Portland area and were able to figure out clues that didn't give the specific location of the box. The tricky part was deciphering directions once we got there.
Following directions based on paces (that would be 2 steps), was a little hard for us after spending more than a year using GPS coordinates to find geocaches (another treasure hunting game). Even though GPS units are known to have a variance of 50-60 feet, it's still easier than having to rely on another's directions.
For instance, one box had directions in its clue that included, "Standing at the bottom of these stairs facing up, turn and take about 5 steps to the right." It turned out that those five steps were my daughter's steps, toe-to-heel, rather than my size elevens.
Overall, we enjoyed playing the game and decided to try hiding some of our own boxes. As it turned out, we liked that aspect a lot.
Each of the kids carved a stamp, my crafty husband made the actual "boxes" (not the usual plastic containers) and I worked with the librarians at Baxter Memorial Library in Gorham to hide them there. We made kid-friendly clues that anyone can request when they visit the library (you don't have to be a registered letterboxer to find them).
We also hid another letterbox in Standish near the Mountain Division Trail. My 10-year-old came up with the clue "code" and everyone in the family had a hand in carving the stamp and choosing the location.
Our letterboxes are not as clever as some we have found, but each box reflects my family's interests and creative spirit. And for us, discovering and appreciating each other's talents was well-worth that trek through a little poison ivy.
The Almeida Letterboxes: Library Books Letterbox clues are available at Baxter Memorial Library in Gorham. Ask any librarian for the clues to find the 3 kid-friendly boxes we hid there. [You can also find our clue on Atlasquest.com] "Ski Away" is not only a letterbox but also a geocaching letterbox hybrid. [You can also find our clue on Atlasquest.com] More: Learn how to get started Letterboxing
Originally published in the Maine Sunday Telegram August 2006
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