Keepin' it real.

 

Slammed here. 

You, too?

I hope you are surviving the heat, the virus, the news, the shortages, and the closures. Life is just so crazy right now. But, I did manage to carve a bit ... a couple of weeks ago now! Haha! And, I have great plans to revive my first plants down in Westport and Grayland, but I can't seem to squeeze it in. It is on the ever-sliding do-list.

But, I was able to click through my AQ logbook and read find reports. That was such an uplifting thing to do! Currently, and amazingly, all my active plants are actually active, and all have a 'good' findability rating. I would love to keep it that way! I think the way to do that is to attend to maintenance, as much as possible. I am thrilled that despite being quite out out the way, boxers are finding their way out to the Washington coast. I hope I make it worth their while!

This makes me happy!

It reminds me of a question that resurfaces periodically - how to encourage finders to come find our planting efforts. We all want to have visitors to our boxes, for sure. A good way to encourage that is to make boxes 'findable.' What I mean by that is: plant boxes that you would enjoy finding. 

Do you like a fun, clever clue? Create one! Do you like to find carefully carved stamps? Plant some fun carves! Do you like tourist boxes or boxes that take you to interesting places you might not have discovered otherwise? Make that a priority in your plants!  Do you like a good mystery or sneaky hide-in-plain-sight box? Focus on finding the perfect hiding spots! 

And conversely, I know I am frustrated by an overly cryptic clue or one where the starting place is so obscure that the find becomes impossible. Or a 'rando' stamp hidden in a non-related place that will be easily muggled, hence usually missing. Or indicating a box is a drive-by when the clue loops the finder around a tiny city park multiple times. (Oops, now I am getting into pet-peeves!) The bottom line is that quality matters.

Takeaway: We set the tone of our hobby.

As a finder, I know which local planters excel in certain aspects in the letterboxes they release in the wild - like a fun hike, a must-see location, or sweet carve. We make it a point to hunt for those boxes. And, we have really enjoyed some great places and stamp-art that way. No, not all letterboxes will have all (or even some of) the qualities we like, and that is part of the adventure. But as planters, we can duplicate the best qualities of some of our favorite finds, and do our part to keep the hobby viable and exciting for both newer and seasoned letterboxers.

This would certainly be an amazing place to bring boxers to;
this photo cannot begin to express the stillness and expanse of this place.
It was on a high ridge overlooking The Dalles (OR) and the Columbia River.

Q: As a finder, what are your most-valued aspects of a letterbox?

The sun keeps blazing, and another heat wave rages across the landscape. I seem to have a temperature sweet-spot for finding boxes - between 50 and 80-ish degrees. Anything outside of those parameters, and I wimp out. :) But, the grey-rainy days are coming, and with them comes more excuse to hunker down at my craft desk and carve, carve, carve! Another benefit of the drizzly grayness is that typically trails and the popular places are rather empty, which means good opportunities to plant without muggles. *thumbs up*

Stay safe, my friends. 

See ya on the trail.