AQ Box of the Week and Letterboxing 101

"What do you want to do today?" we ask every weekend.  A list off all of the "should do's" (housework, yard work, laundry, grocery shopping, etc.) is rattled off.  All it takes is for one of us to say, "Maybe we should go letterboxing," and off we go.  What started out as a hobby, quickly became an obsession.  Since most of our friends have no idea what letterboxing is all about, I decided to try and explain it here.

Image Carved by Steve Olson

What is letterboxing?

Letterboxing is an fun pastime that combines artistic ability with delightful "treasure-hunts" in beautiful, scenic places.  Participants seek out hidden letterboxes by following clues and cracking codes.  Wikipedia describes letterboxing as "an outdoor hobby that combines elements of orienteering, art and puzzle solving."

Our Signature Stamp

The reward of successfully locating the letterbox is a miniature work of art in the form of a rubber stamp, usually hand-carved by the person who planted the letterbox.  Along with the rubber stamp, the letterbox will contain a logbook.  Every letterboxer has a signature stamp and their own personal logbook.  After finding the letterbox, the signature stamp is stamped into the letterbox's logbook to record the find and the letterbox's stamp is stamped into the letterboxer's logbook to record the discovery.

History of Letterboxing

Canmere Pool Letterbox

Letterboxing has been around for a long time.  Back in 1854, a man named James Perrott placed the first "letterbox" at Canmere Pool near Dartmoor, England.  Atlas Quest has a nice history of letterboxing.  Jump ahead to April 1998.  Smithsonian Magazine ran a short article about a peculiar English hobby called letterboxing.  With that article, letterboxing was established in the United States and has been growing in popularity ever since.


How did we get started letterboxing?

Steve is a passionate rockhound and our family vacations for  many years revolved around rocks.  I enjoy rockhounding, too, but it is not my passion.  Being out in nature and with rockhound friends is what I enjoy, but I can only take sitting in a gravel pit for a couple of days, then I get restless.


Our daughter, Signe, graduated from high school in 2006 and went off to college.  The summer of 2007 was our first "empty-nester" summer and I was looking for activities that Steve and I would both enjoy doing together.  Letterboxing popped up on my radar after finding the April 1998 Smithsonian Magazine article describing the hobby.  Since I like to hike, I thought this would be an activity I would enjoy after a couple of days rockhounding.  In the back of my mind, I was also thinking that letterboxing is similar to rockhounding, as they are both basically treasure hunts.  Steve is also very artistic, so I thought the artistry of the stamps would interest him.

Our 1st Letterboxing Weekend

Although we joined Atlas Quest in October 2007, we did not find our first letterbox until September 2008.  Our first letterboxing weekend took us to the north shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota and we found six traditional letterboxes and two hitchhikers.  Not bad for our first time boxing and we were hooked!  One of these first boxes, Hungry Jack Pine (AQ Box #46572), remains one of our all-time favorite boxes.


SZSRocks is our hastily chosen trailname.  We pronounce it S-Z-S Rocks.  The SZS part stands for our first names (Steve, Zoma, Signe) and the Rocks part denotes our first hobby of rockhounding.  Signe now has her own letterboxing trailname (The Tree Hugger).  As the summer of 2011 comes to a close, we have found over 500 traditional letterboxes and have planted 28 letterboxes.


Where do you find letterbox clues?


LbNA (Letterboxing North America)

Atlas Quest


Meeting Other Letterboxers


In October 2007, when we first joined Atlas Quest, I was exploring the site and discovered a local "event" (Something Wicked This Way Comes) was being held.  I got excited and signed us up to attend, even though we had not actually done any letterboxing.  We ended up getting cold feet and canceled out of attending the event.  In hind sight, I wish we would have had the nerve to go to the event!  We attended our first letterboxing event (A Skeleton's Picnic) in October 2008.  It was held at a park in Bloomington, Minnesota, and believe it or not, it snowed that day.  The weather did not discourage our fellow letterboxers and we had a great time.  Since then we have attended 12 more events in Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois.

Goofing around at the MI Fall Gathering: Viva Grand Haven!

On October 1st of this year, we hosted our first event (MN Fall Gathering: Rock Around Elk River!).  Planning and hosting the event was fun and exhausting!  We planted 27 letterboxes for the event.  I think everyone had a good time.

This morning, we received word that the letterbox series we planted, "Rocks and Minerals," has been chosen the "Box of the Week" for the week of November 13, 2011 on Atlas Quest.  This was quite a surprise and an incredible honor.  Thanks to everyone who has found this series!

If you choose to hunt for our Rocks and Minerals Series, here is a sneak peak at one of the stamps you will find.

Tanzanite on Diopside, Carved by Steve Olson

I hope this post has peaked your interest and that you will try letterboxing.  We have discovered so many new and beautiful places that we never would have found, if it weren't for letterboxing.  And, we have made many fabulous friends!

"Not all who wander are lost."

~J. R. R. Tolkien

Memorial Day

Memorial Day weekend will find us in Montana...(queue: "Meet Me in Montana" duet by Marie Osmond and Dan Seals)



The sleepy town of Glendive will be invaded by Minnesotans in search of dinosaur bones, agates, ammonites and petrified wood.

SlideMyPic is a free HTML5 slideshow generator that I came across this morning and wanted to try. To create the SlideMyPic slideshow, I imported pictures from our 2007 Memorial Day trip to Glendive from our Flickr photostream. Here is a glimpse of why we love Glendive.

Rock Rustler's News - April 2011

I came across a cool website that converts PDF files to interactive flipping books that you can embed in blogs, on websites, or use on whiteboards.  FlipSnack is very easy to use.  I uploaded a PDF file and the site converted it into flip book format.  I then was able to choose from a few options and colors for displaying my book.  After successful conversion, the website gave me the embed code and a direct URL link for my flip book.  You need to register on the site, but it is free to use.  There is a "premium" membership available.  I used the "free" option.

To try FlipSnack, I uploaded the April 2011 edition of the Minnesota Mineral Club's newsletter, Rock Rustler's News.  I am the editor of this publication.  I like the results.


 

Friend's Ships

April is poetry month.  Some of my friends have taken up the challenge, hosted by NaPoWriMo, to write a poem a day for the entire month.  I admire poets and wish I possessed the talent to write any form of poetry...not just bad haiku.  Recently, I had the pleasure of attending a poetry reading at the Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts in Fridley.  Mary, Kathleen and I went to the poetry reading to hear Lynn recap her adventures in dating.  Her travails are quite humorous.  Lynn is one of my gifted friends and is posting daily poetry on her blog, On and Off the Page.  She is seriously talented with words, and her hand-made journals are awesome.

Medora, North Dakota hosts an annual cowboy poetry gathering.  This got me thinking...if cowboys can have their own poetry week, why can't rockhounds?  So, by the power vested in me (which, sadly, isn't very much), I hereby proclaim the week of April 17th Rockhound Poetry Week.  Our friend, Vern, is my favorite rockhound poet.

Our Rockhound Gang near Kemmerer, Wyoming

Vern's way with words never ceases to amaze me.  Out of a jumble of words, he creates incredible poetry.

Words of Friend's Ships by Vern

In honor of Vern, and the newly christened Rockhound Poetry Week, here is his latest poem.

Friend's Ships

I know we're not your family but it feels that's the case.

I only need to close my eyes and I can see your face.

Years have slid away from us, you're in my thoughts each day.

And rarely does a night go by when your name don't I pray.

I always try to join with you, whenever I'm in town.

I fear my words have hurt you or my actions let you down.

Life has gotten hard these days and time is drawing lines.

But hope the storms all pass you by and in your life God shines.

If something sad has rent the tie that's bound us in its love.

I pray you can forgive trespass as sure as God's above.

But if my selfish doubting heart has caused a turn away.

Or else there's really nothing wrong but living day to day.

Well then this note may seem obscure or else may cause a rift.

I only mean to keep you close, friend-ships are known to drift.

4/19/11

Vern

Swenson Heritage Farm

Chevy Valve Cover

The Sandhill Photography Club went on our monthly photo field trip today (April 10th) to the Swenson Heritage Farm in Otsego, Minnesota.  The skies were overcast and the buildings were dark.  In other words, two challenging situations for photography.

Before Steve and I left for the outing, I did some quick research on the Swenson farm.  The farm has three barns, built in 1944, and one very large chicken coop.  The barns have been designated "heritage sites."  An early owner farmed the land with twenty-six horses and no tractors. The Swenson's purchased the farm in 1968 from two former owners of the Minnesota Vikings.  John Swenson, the son of the property owners (both deceased), was very gracious in allowing us to photograph the entire property, inside and out.  If anyone is interested, the property, which includes 10 acres of land, is for sale for $314,000.  We all agreed that the hayloft in one of the barns would make an awesome studio.

Here are my best shots, in no particular order:

One Photo Three Ways

In the collage above, the first photo is the original.  In the middle shot, the original photo was cropped and changed to black and white.  The last photo is the black and white image with the barn tinted red.  I love playing around with Picnik!

Old Bottle in Barn

Boxelder Bug

Andrea's son was excited to show me the boxelder bugs and ants that he found.  According to him, "Icky bugs!"  followed by ~stomp and squish~  I think he and I will be great friends.

Model A Wheel

Root Cellar Door

The Root Cellar Door photo would probably have been my favorite for the day if the door wasn't a little blurry.  It was pretty dark in the root cellar.

Steve in the Root Cellar

Chalkboard in Entry of Home

 I wonder who wrote on the chalkboard with permanent marker.

Shed Door Windows

Door Latch

More Door Latches - Another of my favorites.

Fireplace Plaque

Fireplace Mantel - Original House Beam

Steve and Some Ghosts

 I was afraid I would get some ghostly images!

The Whole Gang

Hose

Stairway

Door Knob and Key

Heart Door Knob

Left-Over Leaf

Box of Stuff

Book in the Barn!

Barn Swallow Nest

Bucket

Porch Post

Chicken Coop

 

I got a little carried away with window pictures.  I just like them.

As any good American Picker would do, Steve came home with a blueprint cabinet and Jay scored a Pink Lightning banana seat bike and a couple of bar chairs.  Spending Sunday afternoon with Steve and other good friends...what can I say...life is good!