Things you learn when you're stir crazy. . .

So yesterday was "unseasonably warm" which for extreme Northern New England meant 38, and i've been cooped up in the house for WAAAY too long with recurrent "intractable" (isn't that an ugly word? believe me that right there is an ugly word!) migraine. So Mr. Umbrella decided that instead of traveling a lot and getting me exhausted again - which leads to more intractable migraine - we would go get a few boxes around here that have been waiting for the perfect time to be found. Yesterday was it.

However, i am still not the brightest bulb on the tree. i had to go to a meeting first and run some errands and obviously wasn't thinking clearly. What did i wear on my feet? these:what did the trail look like? funny you should ask:yeah, there was some slip sliding away yesterday - but we were NOT to be deterred! We were not! We wandered around and FOUND them there stamps! Even if it meant resorting to Drastic Measures to get them out of the ground! This time, i was not to be Thwarted by the forces of Mother Nature. Oh NO - i came Prepared, and remembered Rule #9: Never go anywhere without a knife!Yup, eventually, Monsieur Le Raccoon came free of his hidey hole after a little "persuasion". Those of you who are friends with me on FB may recall that i had a similar situation last month with a certain Rainbow Snail in NH, who refused to budge. At that point, i did not have a knife with me, (well, truth be told, i did have the knife with me, i just didn't think of it -BAD tigs! BAAAD tigs!!) so i missed the find. Not doing that again! Winter boxing is not for les sissies! You must be forceful! You must be "per-suuuasiiiive" You must have patience and make sure you don't chip the box. Also having the box owner's phone number so you know which rock to uncover from the ice and snow helps. . .

We also went to find another box that had never been found, about a mile hike up into the woods at an inn. The innkeepers were very nice, and although there was a fee posted on the clue, they told us to hike on up for free. That won't always happen, and no one else had ever found the box - probably because of the fee. Made me think that asking is not always a bad thing. The innkeepers were geocachers, so they'd heard of letterboxing and (although the clue said they knew about the box) no one seemed to know if it was still there. It is, alive and well - and now has a find.

Then we went to find some others in the Burlington area. One was a no go - third time i've been there; i'm pretty sure it's gone. Then it was off to a local cemetery i've always loved: Lakeview Cemetery. Even if you don't box, people should visit this place. It's a gorgeous old cemetery. One box was so frozen into place not even Mr. Umbrella could chip it out (couldn't get a good angle on it). The other one was a quick grab -although i'm a little worried it's not really hidden in there deep enough. There are a lot of boxes in Lakeview, for those with the right qualifications. i recommend it.

Lastly, we went to a local restaurant to get one last box. . . in the dark. "Night boxing" - sort of. Well, when you've got a headlamp, it works. . . and frankly, when it's a busy restaurant for kids, it makes more sense to go at night, when you're less likely to draw attention to yourself skulking around the outside of the building! As usual, though, i was my typical graceful self and tripped -"stopped dropped and rolled" by the curb getting back into the car. *sigh* Not the most graceful of cats, this tigs.

All in all, a great day. And i finally slept well! The joys of boxing!! But next time? i'm wearing better shoes!