Yep, Wassa summed it up perfectly. That's exactly why not. Clever HIPS boxes are one thing, but unfortunately the stamping frenzy that ensues when there's a lot of event boxes/HIPS boxes generally ruins the HIPS boxes. Take a look around you when you're at a large event. The stealth factor that we all talk about while out boxing goes out the door when people are dealing with HIPS boxes. I've had several HIPS boxes ruined by over zealous boxers and watched whole groups of boxers just pass boxes from person to person while the boxes that the host/hostess took hours and hours to carve and plant or solicit from others and then plant specificially for the event get almost no attention.

I think the other thing we see a lot around here is hosts/hostesses that work very hard to make sure every aspect of the gathering goes with the theme. If you open it to any and all event boxes, you end up with tons of stamps, but they have nothing to do with the theme. If I'm having a Pirate themed gathering, I wouldn't want an event box that is full of school supplies. Not that the school supplies isn't a fabulous box, but has nothing to do with pirates.

Maiden

I have to admit that for much of my life Memorial Day was the the weekend the pools opened and a time for a BBQ. But that began to change a few years ago when we studied the patriotic holidays in our homeschool. Yesterday changed me even more.

We, as a family, attended a scout event at the local National Cemetery and completed the solemn processional to the flagpole. After raising the flag, the pledge of allegiance, the invocation, speech and recognition of eagle scouts and military personal (which was one of our scout's dads - their family leaves for a 3 year tour overseas tomorrow), the flag was lowered to half-mast while two buglers played taps.

Hearing the bugles, watching the flag lowering, being surrounded by rows and rows of white tombstones and remembering my grandfather-in-law's burial at that same cemetery just a year ago (WWII vet)......there are no words. I'm honored to have been there and humbled by the sacrifice given for my country and for me.

We placed flags on all the graves - we being the 5000 scouts plus their leaders and families. Family members coming to see their loved ones' graves thanked us for placing the flags. Wow - all I did was stick a flag in the ground a few dozen times - their loved ones deserve the gratitude.

I think I'm finally beginning to understand this holiday now.

light travelers

great gallery!

thanks for the pictures

I'm still fairly new to really getting into letterboxing, and it seems like a great community of people!

My Girlfriend (PeaceandLove) and I are really glad we have gotten into this!

I hope there are more events to come so I may meet some of the people who's stamps and series I have seen recently! :)

Thank-you for posting this. I too spent the weekend in a National Cemetery. It is truly humbling to see all those stones in perfect alignment and the feeling of sacrifice is felt.

~Aurora

I think I'm finally beginning to understand this holiday now.

I know what you mean. For me, the revelation was two years ago in England...on Veteran's Day. They call it remembrance day, and all the stores sell paper poppies for people to wear on that day. Proceeds to local veteran's charities. It happened to fall on Sunday, and we were attending church when at the appointed hour, (I think it was 11, or 11:30) the entire country rose to their feet and observed five minutes of silence in remembrance of the veterans who came home...and the ones who didn't. Afterward one old man, a veteran, spoke to us, and thanked us for the aid that America sent, both during and after the war. He said without our help, they would have lost...and they would also have starved to death. Our shipments of food, particularly Spam, were life-giving, and 60 years later he was still moved to tears with his gratitude. He said this was his first opportunity to thank any American for the generosity of their country. All we could do was stand there and bawl, and accept his gratitude on behalf of our nation. I think of him on both Memorial and Veteran's day, every year, and I still cry with the memory of his gratitude, and my own thankfuilness to live here in such a great place.

Romana

The Necklace by Cheryl Jarvis

Discussion Date in 3 weeks to be ready for the next book. lets say June 24th. or there abouts.

~Aurora

Can you tell me more about the State Mysteries? I looked for that but couldn't find it. Is it a specific series? Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong place! :) Our route takes us Albuquerque-Roswell-Carlsbad-Las Cruces. We'll probably head out to Anthony too to hit Chope's. We're planning on planting a box somewhere during the trip, location TBA! :) It's our first time letterboxing outside of the Pacific Northwest, so we're excited to see how it's done in the desert. Up here we have so many forests, trees, stumps and mossy hiding places. what's the "packaging" of choice for desert boxes? Do you camo them in any way? any tips for planting in NM would be appreciated-thanks again for all the box info you've all already shared! :)

Thanks for putting the link on here.

Okay, so I drag my family out to this park full of hiking trails on Saturday, and of course, there's a letterbox we're trying to find in the process. Had the darndest time figuring out which trail we were on, and if we'd taken the right turns, etc. SAW something that seemed to match a letterboxing clue, but since we hadn't seen the previous clue yet, we passed it by without checking. EVENTUALLY... (now, my hubby, daughter-12 and son-10 were all tired, limping and complaining for a long time by now)... we came to a junction and read the sign there -- and discovered we'd made all the right trail choices, but for one thing -- we'd just done the whole trail (except for getting back to the parking lot) IN THE WRONG DIRECTION!

No WAY was anybody willing to turn around and go back so we could look for the letterbox. It was getting late, everybody was cranky (except for me, I was having fun), yadayadayada... so we chalked it up to a day of good exercise and no letterbox.

Isn't there a class (how about a book?) to teach about how to read a trail map? I need to improve my skills or my family will never go with me again (and we're wanting to get into better shape, since we're heading to Yellowstone this summer).

Any suggestions???

Thanks,

Hansenclan
in Southern California

I think I would have been scared even if he didn't look like James!

*and* the owner has been MIA for a while

Is there a way to know this??

What I mean by MIA is if the owner of the box hasn't logged into AQ in a really long time (cobwebs on their profile). It's possible they may be out there boxing in the mysterious corners of the world somewhere, but they aren't active online anymore. Which means the status and clues aren't being updated, although sometimes you can read through the finders' comments (if they're even visible) and look for "updates" about the box, such as changes to the landscape, if it needs repairs, etc.

And then there are the folks who appear to be actively reading their messages but never reply to you. I can definitely empathize with your situation. We've came across two different damaged/destroyed boxes... sent both owners a friendly message about them, with details about the situation and offers to help repair/replace, to mail the lonely little logbook we found, etc. -- any of which should have prompted a reply or at least some sort of acknowledgment that they give two shakes about their boxes or appreciate getting info from fellow boxers, but so far nothing from either person... it's been weeks. For all I know they deleted the messages without even reading them. That's my guess, so I'm not holding my breath at this point. They can find the time to log in and tool around on the site for a while but they can't be bothered to change the status of the box so other people aren't going on what is most definitely a wild goose chase... and it must not be worth their time to type a couple words like "thanks for the info"... it seems rude imo... basic lack of courtesy.

It's their issue though! There are lots more boxes awaiting and plenty of people who DO appreciate getting a friendly update. :)

~Ohana

So glad that this article is out there! Great representation of the LB community in our state. hopefully it will also generate more interest and there will be more letterboxers because of it! :)

I know it's not technically Memorial day anymore where I am, but it's never too late or a bad time to thank a service member for all that they so. I was recently in TN and while driving back from Memphis for the day I saw a sign on the side of the road that said there was a national cemetery. I just had to go and pay my respects. It was an awakening experience to see that place in person.

Sorry to reply to my own post like this, but I was feeling really motivated.

I started a blogger page with the reading schedule, starting on the 3rd of June. You do have to have a blogger account to post, but if you're using G-mail, they're connected so it's super easy. Here's the link:

http://harrypotterreadalong.blogspot.com/

Now we can enjoy some Harry Potter and not fill up the boards with our chatter. :) I'll post a new message every day with the chapter or chapters that we're reading so we can discuss.

Have they read it? I know I didn't get the addiction, but then so many people I knew had read the series so I figured I'd read it to see what all the fuss was about. And now I'm addicted myself!

What a beautiful story...thank you for sharing your experience. It brought tears to my eyes...

Blue Sandpiper

Very good article

Is there a way for us that are not in Washington to read the article?

Shiloh

All I have to say to that can be best said by Rachel Ray.... "Yumm-O!" :):)

but when you said you let the bread soak for 30 seconds, I thought, whoa! Thats a long time, to me. I just slap it in there, and quickly turn it over, and out. No waiting at all. Otherwise, I knew it would get really soggy. Correction, feel it would get really soggy.

It must be all in the bread then. I just had to make some french toast yesterday for breakfast since all the talk about it. I don't use a recipe, but I did pay more attention to what I was doing, and I probably let the bread soak on each side for maybe more like 15 seconds or so. I use a soft oatmeal type bread though. Not as soft as regular white bread. Mine comes out kind of like a bread pudding like french toast, but it's still in sliced form. Hard to describe. And I cook low and slow so it cooks all the way through and doesn't burn outside. I use butter in the pan. Maybe I'll just have to write down what I do so I can be more efficient at explaining.

can you add the blog to AQ so I can suscribe to it and it will show up on my mypage? otherwise I will forget to check it...and I don't want to forget this.

romana

I completely agree, but strange thing is I wouldn't have been scared if it was James. Vampires don't scare me, people do tho!

BTW, the countdown starts for Eclipse!!

Great write-up!

I have to admit, I have no idea how to do something like that. Do you mean just start one thread with it?

Bring it on Megatron : )

I grew up in E-town and am quite impressed you found enough to do for a whole day.
I've considered planting in Tory Hole park before but haven't yet. I'll be sure to get any boxes you left behind. White Lake might hold a few good spots but it's mostly private now.
Did you eat at Melvins? It use to be the towns shinig jewel but since Mr Melvin sold it about 5 yrs ago it just hasn't been the same........

I have to admit I was disheartened this Memorial Day when hardly any flags flew in my small town, and the news didn't bother to focus on any Memorial Day events other than protests . . .
I came to Atlasquest, just before turning in, to check on Green Tortuga's progress and happened to notice the heading, "Memorial Day".
I am so glad I clicked on it and read the entries.
I've had my cry, given my thanks and remembered . . . . .

Thank you - Dezert Ratty

Friday, July 2nd? I'm so there! I just missed meeting you last year by a couple days. (My computer had crashed and I was out of the loop for a while).

1. Near Seal Beach again might bring D&G out of hiding. Haven't heard from them in a few months.
2. This place could be fun: http://www.yelp.com/biz/muddy-moose-bar-and-grill-studio-city
3. This is right down the street from Staples: http://www.yelp.com/biz/mooses-juices-los-angeles

Kelsung

you go to people, manage blogs, then click on add blog, then put in the address of the blog (or something, the instructions are on that page. then you put on the thread that you've done this, and what you've named the blog...then we can go and click on the suscribe button for your blog...and each day when you post, the headline will show up on our mypage over in the letterboxing news widget.

it's not hard. It can't be that hard, I managed to get three blogs listed on here, lol. romana's ramblings is about my vacations and interesting "life stuff", writs r wrought is about my writing, and the third one is for book reviews, except I rarely do anything on that one, because I got busy...

romana