Letterboxing!

So, yes, I'm supposed to be weaving, weaving, weaving. But gorgeous fall days are gorgeous fall days... So, I spent a good chunk of time in the studio this morning/early afternoon (and will return this evening), then came home to drag everyone letterboxing.

(Church in the middle of Chelmsford - bike path in the foreground.)

What, you ask, is letterboxing? Well, according to the Letterboxing North America, letterboxing originated in England, in the moors of Darmoor. It is "an itriguing mix of treasure hunting, art, navigation, and exploring interesting, scenic, and sometimes remote places. It takes the anceint custom of placing a rock on a cairn upon reaching the summit of a mountain to an artform..." The idea is, people hide a weatherproofed box somewhere, including a log book and a rubber stamp in the box, write out clues about how to find it, and post them to the Letterboxing website.

Hunters, like we were today, have their own personal stamps so that they can record their visit in the letterbox log book, and also keep their own journals to put stamps in from the boxes they find.

Needless to say, the kids had a great time hunting for our first (very easy to find, thankfully) letterbox today - it was right along the Bruce Freeman Bike Path, right near home! (There are 14 boxes hidden in our town alone!)

Bikepath...

Woodlot path along the bike path (that's Carlos, getting the kids out of the bike stroller, wearing his helmet, good boy.)

All ready with their journals...

Up the hill...


To find an old rock wall - and hey, there's the box!


Bella's letterboxing journal (The green butterfly is her stamp - the little red stamp was the one in the box). (I just love her kindergartener handwriting!)

A last peek at the trees (foliage is really just starting here - the mature sugar maples are starting, and those are the trees that have the *really* spectacular color, none in this photo!).

I'm really looking forward to continuing to do this... It reminds me quite a bit of our last trip to the U.K., when I was pregnant with Bella - we spent a good part of that vacation traipsing over hill and dale (literally), compass in hand, finding remote stone circles in England, Wales and Scotland. Looking forward to going to Dartmoor someday to find more circles *and* letterboxes!