I suppose you have to plan for every contingency. Have to admit, I never saw that coming.

Clue 2 = Intense

Please, please be sure to explain what letterboxing is! The requirements don't mention that! If you go to the Scouts board, I did a long explanation of what my troop did when this badge first came out. good luck!

Ohhh yes. I'm also going to emphasize secrecy, and respect for surroundings and the boxes themselves.

Thanks guys! Looking forward to another 10 years of fun and friendship with all of you AQ'rs :)

My heart goes out to the wildfire victims. Please, when told to evacuate, DO! It is shocking to see how fast flames can spread.

Yosemite MJD in CA
who has seen it first hand

INTERESTING HISTORY LESSON

Railroad tracks. This is fascinating.

Be sure to read the final paragraph; your understanding of it will depend on the earlier part of the content.
The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number.

Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates designed the US railroads.

Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.

Why did 'they' use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.

Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.

So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (including England) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since.

And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Bureaucracies live forever.

So the next time you are handed a specification/procedure/process and wonder 'What horse's ass came up with this?', you may be exactly right. Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses. (Two horses' asses.) Now, the twist to the story:

When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah. The
engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds.

So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass. And you thought being a horse's ass wasn't important? Ancient horse's asses control almost everything... and
CURRENT Horses Asses are controlling everything else.

Good one!

What about pencils with the eraser removed and the metal bit bent into a gouge shape?
They are good enough for kids to enjoy on pink erasers, anyways. And not very sharp. Much more fun than foam shapes and glue.

I need a *shivering* button. Ugh.
There is no way to prevent all injury...and I think when kids see/sense the inherent danger they are better at self preservation. Otherwise, creativity just gets the best of them!

Went hiking and planted 2 letterboxes in Arkansas with my letterboxing daughter and 4 grandchildren, plus two non-boxing fellas. Opted out. Peaceful and beautiful.

Just a heads up that Jampersandj and myself Will be hosting an event this spring in Lake Forest California Around April or May .... Details to follow

Noted, will stay tuned!

ditto
deniserows
abbr.

Just checking in to see how everyone is in the Gatlinburg/Sevier County area. Sending love and prayers for those in the area and hoping you are all safe!

Hale's Angel & hubby,Bill, are with cousins down in Pikeville.They were evacuated last nite.

Hale's Angel & hubby,Bill, are with cousins down in Pikeville.They were evacuated last nite.

Glad they were out. Westgate Resort, which is right near their place, was nearly completely destroyed. It seems hit or miss the homes with damage, so I hope theirs made it through.

Cool :-) it will be in the lake forest sports park and the 50 states postal will have arrived back home by then and be available for stamping ! We will also plant some boxes for the event ...

Az people will also keep eyes open for this event!

Yippee Skippy

Thank God, we're getting good pouring rain in Knoxville right now. It's soon to be in Gatlinburg with some much needed relief! Hope it cover the mountains with a blanket of it.

I would love to hear back of how everything went. Good luck!

WooHoo! I'll be out in May for a bit. My niece lives in Mission Viejo, hope I'm there when you have your event.

Clue 3 = Never been kissed

Cat Inchies. Send-by date is January 31.

Is there an Tree 2016 in the works? It's one of our favorite holiday traditions.
And, if stamps are still needed, I could contribute some.
RIFamily

Yay

I watched it out of curiosity. I LOVED the original.

I liked Anne, although her freckles appearing and disappearing bothered me.
I liked this Diana better, and Marilla should be older.
This Anne is cute, Yet Megan Follows was so convincing that there are some huge shoes to fill. I am still on the fence... I will continue to watch to see how it grows.

~Aurora

My dad had a heart attack Wednesday night, just before Thanksgiving. There were no surgeons on Thanksgiving, so Friday they tried to insert stents, but it didn't work. Luckily, they were successful Monday night, and he is now safely back home. Phew. That pretty much put all hobbies on hold. Now I am back to Salsa dancing. Too rainy for boxing.

I still haven't watched it yet, but after reading the original posts I saw pictures of the cast. Marilla does look rather young. I am not familiar with the actress. Colleen Dewhurst was amazing as Marilla. As for the original Diana, I really liked her. How was the new Gilbert Blythe?