Letterboxing Sells Itself

I started letterboxing at the urging of my oldest daughter, Stephanie. She got her tendency to jump into something with both feet from me. So when she starts telling me about all the fun she is having searching out letterboxes by following clues, how could I not chose to join her fun.
At first, I could not imagine myself as an artistic carver. I can draw snowmen, rabbits, maps, and a boy. All are pretty basic. I make maps for work. I have developed a style that relates the important information without any artistic flair. The boy is created by starting with the word

boy

and then drawing a curved line from the top of the b to the right side of the y. and then I draw a curved line from the bottom of the y to the left side of the b. The two circle become eyes and the y becomes the ear of my boy picture. I usually give him a crew cut for hair. A few quick facial lines and he does not look too bad. Even though I can draw a boy, does not mean I feel artistic.
Shortly after telling me about letterboxing, Stephanie forwarded to me an announcement of an upcoming letterboxing event. The Fat Lady was planning a letterboxing party for her younger sister, The Pied Piper. What could a dad do but sign up to attend as Kayak Bandit.
I attended this event. From the second I met the first one until now. Everyone involved in letterboxing were and continue to be so very welcoming, warm, open and sharing. Especially helpful to me was Stormcrow. He encouraged me to sign into his logbook and gave me his stamp. He also had a stamp of a dollar bill. He conducted a quiz where the person guessing the right answer would get the image stamped and he would write in the amount that was won. I think I won five bucks. It was a lot of fun.
I had already bought the idea of the hobby from Stephanie's first explanation. Yet, I had to somehow draw an image of a dog (named bandit) paddling a kayak. I assured myself and anyone listening that I could not do it. I was telling my friend Melissa about it, and wondered if she could help. You see, she has shown me some nice artwork of hers. In a couple days she had drawn a picture of what I needed. Great job, Melissa.
As most new carvers do, I chose to carve a negative image of her artwork. I am not real happy with the result. I plan to recarve the same image, but make it positive instead. It will have to do for now.
After attending the party, but before I finished my signature stamp, I went to the Atlas Quest online site to check out nearby letterboxes. Wow, there were lots to choose from. I delayed searching for any boxes until I could do it up right. I wanted my own logbook and stamp. Eventually I was ready. Stormcrow listed a new box named Loveboat. We chatted on line about it. He pointed out that he used snow shoes to get to the spot as there was about two feet of snow. Not to be deterred, I went out the next day and found my first box. I had no snow shoes, but managed to get to it. Some times I would break through the crusty snow, but it was worth it. Bandit and I sat down in the snow and logged our first find. Physically, I was cold and wet, but not emotionally.
Now when I find a letterbox, I absorb all I can about the letterbox. I look carefully at the stamp to see what technique was used to carve it. I look at the way the logbook is bound. I look at all the images stamped into the logbook and read the comments. People come from all across our country to find letterboxes. I even have a hitch hiker letterbox that came from Erie Pennsylvania. I hope the interest in these treasures remains for me. Judging from the others I have met, I bet it intensifies. I cannot imagine, but okay, bring it on. I am ready.
Letterboxing really does sell itself. For more information about letterboxing, check out this link. http://bayareabackroads.com/RecentShows/April562008/tabid/92/Default.aspx It was taped in California. See you on the trail.
Kayak Bandit ----/---- '(*!*)'