Blue Dragonfly

The following is a post I wrote on Atlas Quest last summer. I was telling a co-worker friend about the post and told her it was here on my blog. Well, until now it was only on Atlas Quest. I hope you folks like it as much as my other friends did. I wrote it in response to some complaints about new letterboxers and the efforts some seasoned letterboxers take to prevent new letterboxers from seeing the clues until they have some finds under their belt.

You give me inspiration. We all need one another.
Many times while kayaking, blue dragonflies have flown to me and rode on me or my kayak. Sometimes it was when I was sitting quietly near a marsh, but other times too when I was making good time paddling out in open water. Over time my friends started talking about how the dragonflies were attracted to me and not to others. It is more common to have blue dragonflies accompanying me than not.
Last year while paddling with Kathryn, I spotted a dragonfly in distress. This dragonfly had gotten too wet to return to flight. It was a long way out in the lake. I doubled back to it and slowly lowered my hand under it and lifted slowly upward. The dragonfly was perched on the tip of one of my fingers. It did not try to fly.
To get the dragonfly to the shore required the use of both hands. So, I gently moved my hand near to the lashing in front of my cockpit. As I rotated my hand, the dragonfly, sort of, hopped onto the lashing. I continued paddling the course I was originally on. When the nose of my kayak slid onto the shore, the dragonfly flew to some rushes. To me, it seemed this creature recognized my good will and made use of it.
I suppose if we could understand dragonfly language, we would hear a lot of discussion about how horrible boats are. Well, this life lesson suggests there is at least one dragonfly voice saying that not all boaters are bad.
And I say, newbie letterboxers and letterboxers that have restrictions are not bad either.

Kayak Bandit '(*!*)'

Dock

Today I turned on my computer to discover that my friend, Jeff (Stormcrow to letterboxers) , had posted a new letterbox out past Tum Tum. I have always liked that area and chose to skip working on the kitchen long enough to go and get the box and hopefully be the first finder. I translated the clues to discover the spot is right across the highway from the DNR campground and boat ramp.
I was the superintendent for the project back in about 1990 when we build the dock, ramp and concrete walls that line the water's edge. The timing for the project was very critical because the park is next to Lake Spokane which is created by Long Lake Dam. There was going to be a large drawdown of the water for a brief time to do maintenance to the dam. This gave the DNR a chance to have the park redone. We bid the job with the understanding that the work had to get done in the drawdown period, PERIOD. I prebuilt all the forms for the walls and hired my brother Larry to be the lead carpenter for the wall while I worked principally on the dock and ramp.
Larry stayed in my trailer house at the site. One night a bunch of very intocicated locals came down there and started shooting guns and such. Larry was too petrified to confront them since he had no guns. The next night we locked the gate to keep out the problem. This worked very good for the most part. One evening Larry went to town to buy some groceries and when he returned, discovered his glasses were still in the trailer. He could not see well enough to work the combination. He had to walk the mile or so to the trailer and back up to get the gate open.
After we were done with the crane that drove the piling for the dock, they parked it up by the highway to be picked up the next day. Some people broke out all the windows in the crane.
So, back to today. After I found the letterbox, I walked into the park to see the place. It is beautiful. It was fun to sit high on the hill and look at the beauty of our world. Some of the beauty was with my families help.
Kayak Bandit

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 ----/---- '(*!*)'