Hello again, lovely readers. This one has nothing much to do with voiceovers…mostly because I completely lost my voice for about a week and a half over the holidays, and I needed to expend my creative energy elsewhere. So this is a bit about that…
A few of my family members have recently gotten into letterboxing. Now, if you’re like me, and had never before heard of this particular pastime, I will tell you here and now that it is actually tremendous fun. What is letterboxing, you ask? Well, it’s a bit like geocaching, actually – in the sense that letterboxers adventure outdoors to various locations in search of little hidden boxes containing mysterious and unique items. But with letterboxing – unlike geocaching – participants aren’t focused on GPS guiding them there. They rely, instead, on a series of written clues that lead to little journeys out into some very beautiful places in the natural world. (If you’d like, check out letterboxing.org for more info!)
So here’s the drill. You decide which box you’d like to go find (based on the online database for your geographical area), you read the clues (I’d recommend printing them out, as well, for reference), put on a comfy pair of walking or hiking shoes (and, er, well, any and all other appropriate clothing for whatever the weather’s doing that day), jump in the car (or on a bike, skateboard, scooter…kayak…) and off you go! And you bring a little notebook, an ink pad, and a homemade stamp with you. Yes, a homemade stamp. As a personal trademark signature. The whole thing is very much a kid-style treasure hunt for grownups…rather, let’s just say, kids of all ages. And it’s an awesome way to get the whole family out of doors and into nature.
So, over the holidays, our extended family did a bit of letterboxing. And, to begin on the right foot, we first made some homemade stamps. I made seven altogether…not kidding. Suffice it to say, I got just a bit carried away…
(Disclaimer: I was totally ill at the time, with a horrid sore throat and no voice, so I was feeling pretty stir-crazy and – as I couldn’t hardly talk at all – was very much in need of some sort of artistic outlet.) So I really got into the stamp-making thing. The art of delicately carving pictures out of thin blocks of pink stuff that somewhat resembles soft pencil-eraser rubber (not the erasers on classic number-2 pencils, but the kind found on the ends of pencils you’d get in party favor bags as a kid, with the shiny, swirly, printed paint on them…the kind that never sharpened quite right but it was oh so worth it ’cause you had a pencil with My Little Pony faces all over it…you know what I’m talking about). Where was I?… Oh, right. Stamp carving. It was some pretty intense detail work – the designing, especially – but I truly did enjoy the process of crafting each new stamp more than the last. (If things ever go bad with voiceovers, well…at least I have yet another hobby to add to the growing list of things to keep me busy.) ;P
Our adventures took us first to Point Lobos, where we hiked along coastal forest paths through scraggly oak and cypress woods. We caught far off glimpses of whales surfacing and spouting. We avoided (for the most part) the frequent, scrubby outgrowths of poison oak, and meandered past random clusters of red and white speckled mushrooms that looked like they came right out of some Nordic fairytale.
And finally, we came to the spot where the box was hidden. Being secretive while unearthing a letterbox is all part of the game, but this proved a bit difficult for us, as there were many people out on the trails on that gorgeous – though quite frosty – coastal afternoon. But we eventually managed to retrieve the little plastic cache from its hiding spot, and found inside a little handmade notebook and a beautiful handmade stamp. A detailed carving of the local coastal bird for which that particular letterbox happened to be named. And as this particular hike was a very last-minute excursion, we hadn’t brought a notebook or a handmade stamp, but – thanks to a bit of foresight on my sister’s part – we did have a couple of tiny pre-made stamps with us. So my sister used a bit of the ink off the bottom of the stamp in the box, and got enough on there to leave our own little mark in the notebook. Someday, I think we’ll go back and revisit that letterbox, this time leaving behind an imprint of our own homemade signature stamps and a little note to accompany it.
And that all leads me to this. I’ve come to appreciate letterboxing for many reasons. I love the artistry of the stamp-making, and the uniqueness of the handmade stamp journals and notebooks that can be found in some of the boxes. But the thing I absolutely LOVE about letterboxing is simply…well…the letters. Along with stamping the box’s book, most letterboxers bring along some sort of writing implement, and leave a note in the journal. Or fun little drawings to supplement their stamps. It’s a wonderful little handwritten connection to other treasure hunters. The kind of little message that most of us don’t often receive these days. We’re so used to texts and emails and tweets and Facebook posts. But I feel rather at a loss (with the once-yearly exception of birthday cards, etc.) when I try to think of the most recent time I’ve received an actual hand-written note…
So letterboxing gets my vote. An excellent excuse to get out into the great outdoors, go on a little treasure hunt, appreciate some handmade pieces of unique art, and to take a moment to write a friendly message in a handmade journal to other adventurers who will come along after, searching out that little hidden box and connecting in some small way with one another.
Cheers, everyone! And have a lovely rest of the week.
