A Treatise on Poison Ivy

So…. at my “pre-Annual Letterboxing Day plant”, I managed to contract a small poison ivy rash between my toes.  Yuck!!!

When I was in university, I did a bit of research on poison ivy that has never left me.   So… here goes, for those who are interested.

First of all, poison ivy is a woody vine, with roots that go deep and runners that travel far.  Hence it is VERY HARD TO KILL!!  The active ingredient is called urushiol and it is present in all parts of the plant at all times, but stronger in the spring when the plant is first actively growing.  Apparently, we are all born with an immunity to it, but this immunity is broken down further each time we come in contact with it .  Some people will develop this sensitivity quite early on and others may take a while (I was 44 before I had my first reaction to it, even though I KNOW I had been “into it” long before that).  But once you’ve reacted… well, let’s just say you better do your best to stay away.

Anyways… Silent Doug has a great article on identification, prevention and treatment of the rash (once you come in contact with the plant).   Here is the link….  http://www.letterboxing.info/articles/00000005.php.

AND BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!

A Day Early ~ 3rd Annual International Plant a Letterbox Day

OK: I don’t know if this was/is a joke or not, but I have planted my letterbox in honour of the day.  I had a quick walk at Indian Falls Conservation Area to visit the falls and plant a letterbox (“At the Sound of the Drum”) in the woods. The black flies were out and I was on my way somewhere, so I didn’t daly.   This is almost a drive-by as it is only a 10 minute walk in and another 10 out ~ that is if you don’t linger at the falls or explore the property at all.

I am not going to get another stamp carved and/or box ready for tomorrow. I had an idea for one, but I just haven’t had the time to pull it off.  Oh well….

I think the completion of the Niagara Escarpment Series will now have to wait until September / October.  Preparations for summer camp are speeding up and I’m getting busy enough with it to not have time for much else.

Have fun this summer and we’ll see you at the Box ON! event in Guelph this September.

Almost There

The stamp is ready and the logbook is ready…. just need to finish covering the box and then I can plant.  I also have an idea for another box that I think I will plant on Saturday (after all it is the 3rd Annual International Plant a Letterbox Day ~ or something like that!!!)   Anyways… This other one (that I have almost ready) is going to need to be planted before Saturday since I am on the road away from home on Saturday and nowhere near the planting spot.

 

One More and Then…..

I have one more box that can quickly be ready to go.   I will get that stamp finished up this weekend.    Then I have a few more to go.  

You will notice I am missing #3 and #4.  I have both of these clues written and the locations chosen, but I’m just struggling with the stamps.  I have an image I want to use, but I just can’t seem to “get it right”.   I was thinking of purchasing a stamp making kit (http://www.justritestampers.com/custom.aspx?id=12) to turn the image into a stamp.  For some reason, this kit intrigues me for more complex stamps.   I will let you know if I ever make use of it and how it turns out.   If you are having trouble carving, this may be worth looking into.

Also, I am missing #14 and #15.  Again, I have the locations chosen, but haven’t worked on the images at all.  I think I’ll try to get those done next.  Maybe I can complete those before the summer goes completely crazy and I am “on hold”.  

You know…. it is a bit frustrating to not be able to box during the “peak season”.  My boxing exploits are really limited to spring and fall due to the long work hours at the residential children’s summer camp I run ~ from mid-June through the end of August.  So… when all the rest of you are out there boxing on your vacations, you can think of me.  (I will be living boxing vicariously by checking in on your blogs and on the group lists regularly). 

A Sunny Morning at the Slough of Despond

Yeah!!!! I stopped this morning on my way down to Camp (where I work) and planted two more boxes, Pads on the Slough and Bull Lily at the Slough of Despond.   What a lovely walk on a lovely property with great views.   I saw such variety of wildflowers (the trilliums are in full bloom) and heard such a variety of birds calling.  It was just a very relaxing walk, despite constantly keeping my eyes open for good hiding spots.  This will be another of my planters choice boxes.  I LOVED the property.  

Another Sunny Spring Plant

Another sunny day and another box planted.  This one at Bruce’s Caves just east of Wiarton.  I was surprised to meet a couple of people on the trail ~ on a May weekday afternoon.  It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and it was fun to take just a few minutes off the road to get out and stretch my legs and enjoy the woods.  I didn’t go in real far, but it would be a cool place to spend some time exploring.   There is a geocache located in this area, but from the description is seems that I have kept it in a totally different hiding spot, so I think it will be OK.  I will get the clues completed and posted tomorrow.

Hockley Valley Hustle and Update

This weekend we were in Hockley Valley and I stopped by the Hitchhiker Chalet to see what I could find.   I did take images and stamp into all three books, but I didn’t remove any hitchhikers as the clue asked to always leave two in the box and I didn’t have any to exchange.   There are a couple there, if someone has a couple to move on!!   So.. I have some new stamps in my log book.

I also stopped in Orangeville at the Dragonfly Park letterbox, but I did not manage to find it.  I know I was in the right place (and I know it’s likely there as I found the geocache that is located near it), but I didn’t have much time and in spite of getting down on my hands and knees and looking around a fair bit, I just couldn’t come up with it.  (I’m sure I was within feet/inches of the thing, but my family was back in the truck waiting for me and I didn’t want to get too dirty as I was on a short break from a conference I was attending.)  Oh well….. maybe another time soon.

A discussion has happened on one of the AtlasQuest Forums (or maybe it was one of the yahoo groups ~ they kind of all blend together in my mind) regarding log books and how many we “should’ have.  Right now, I’m new enough (and sparse enough, I guess) that I’m doing everything in one book.  I found a really nice book at Chapters that I love. It is bound and looks like an old leather journal with a magnetic enclosure.   It has lines (I know everyone doesn’t like lines but these are really light and I do not feel that they ruin any images ~ at least not for me).   What I like about this is that I can stamp the image and then write legibly (because there are lines) beside the image where it was, etc., etc.  So, at this point, each image, both found and planted are in my logbook chronologically.  I’ve been doing this for over a year and I’m still nowhere near the half-way full mark, so for me this is working great.   Where we are here in Ontario with the distance I have to travel to find boxes, I don’t anticipate that this will fill fast.

When I opened this blog this morning, my platial map with letterbox markers had gone missing.  So I have temporarily deleted it until I can get it replaced with something that won’t eliminate itself every two weeks.   Hope this doesn’t throw anyone off too much.

Cheers and Happy Mothers Day to all you mothers out there.

Acme Mapper and Geocaches

I have been following a couple of message boards on Atlasquest and recently was reminded that I need to make sure that I’m not planting on top of geocaches ~ because it may result in muggles (ie. non-letterboxers) finding and not being careful with letterboxes or “trading” the stamps.   (If you don’t know what geocaching is and how it is different from letterboxing, visit www.geocaching.com to find out this information).   I have been very frustrated trying to download waypoints onto my GPS unit so that I can double-check each one to make sure I am not planting too close.  (My frustration with the GPS and downloading is one of the reasons that I’ve chosen letterboxing over geocaching ~ just one of the reasons mind.   I much prefer a creative stamp to trading a piece of “stuff”.)   Anyways….. tonight I discovered http://mapper.acme.com/ where I was able to “locate” the geocache points in the area I am planting (thanks to someone on the AtlasQuest board).  This map enabled me to make sure I am not planting letterboxes right on top of geocaches.   Check it out!  (I wonder if I could substitute the acme map for the one I currently have here? I’d have to go back to each of my letterboxes and download their coordinates on my GPS to be able to do this….. something to think about. 

My Reluctant Family

I’m having a bit of trouble convincing my family to accompany me on these outings.  Twice this weekend (Sunday afternoon and again on Monday afternoon) I suggested we go planting and both times I was “vetoed”.   So, I’m debating whether I just need to do this on my own and not try to always drag them in.   I currently have three boxes ready to plant, but now the weather has turned rainish and the black flies have come out in full force.  (That ought to keep others at home for a couple of weeks anyways…)  This weekend we are going to a conference and I hope to pick up a couple of boxes on Sunday afternoon.  We’ll see.  Maybe I’ll have to leave them sit in the car and I’ll have to go by myself!!!   And here I thought this was something we could do together.  Oh well…. I’m not giving up!!!

MayDay Plant

So… the sun was shining this morning ~ even though it was a bit coldish with a brisk wind.   I decided to stop at Spirit Rock Conservation Area on the way down to the office and planted The Spirit of the Place.  If you like ruins, this will be an interesting visit…. a short walk in from the highway on a nice gravel road through a dog-tooth violet laden forest….. what a beautiful spring day.   I’ll get the clues finished up and posted tonight.