First of all, thanks, Pete, for putting out the two
cats' letterbox for our 2nd LB anniversary! We love
our cats, and letterboxing, too! In fact, had it not
been for letterboxing giving us some external fun
focus these past 2 years, we probably would have had a
much harder time dealing with the various types of
illness that have afflicted the last remains of both
our families of origin, so thanks again to everyone
who planted boxes and helped "keep us going"! Thanks
also to everyone who responded and wished us well. No,
we don't have any intention of trying to make a mark
on the other side of the pond, but just wanted to show
what is now possible with a little effort on THIS side
of the pond! And as time goes on, of course, it will
become more and more attainable! (Just ask Randy how
hard it was to have to travel all around the US in
1999 to become the first person to get 100 boxes over
here, and now you can practically do it in one CT town
in one weekend!) Anyway, we do hear that it is quite
a different game over there, and that there is even
someone over there who has found so many boxes that
people call him "God", but that is definitely not our
cup of tea! (though I'd certainly love to be going
over to Dartmoor next month with Alan just for a sip!)
At any rate, our drink of choice right now seems to be
hot cocoa! We had a great time "ski-boxing" the past
few weeks at places like the Tri-State area("RI
Compass") and Paine Open Space(CT "Mixed Nuts"), and
have continued to box right straight through all this
incredibly cold weather we've been having! ( In fact,
it's been so cold that quite a few boxes have
unfortunately become brittle and cracked - like 4 out
of 10 in Alan's super CT "Peanuts" series - so this
year is definitely not going to be like last winter
for box survival rate :-( One of ours cracked, too,
and Alan graciously replaced it for us, but I'm sorry
to say I didn't even have any extra ziplocs with me
that day, so hopefully the next folks to visit can do
that!) Anyway, it just so happened that my 2000th box
was Laurette's "Coffee Break", preceded directly by a
cool surprise box called "Morning Coffee" left near
one of our boxes, and preceded a few months before
that by a hitcher called "Top Java"! Pretty funny
considering that I don't even drink coffee...but I am
now ready for a "letterboxing break"! February looks
to be taken up with another end-to-end on the
Catamount Trail (the length of VT on skis, if the snow
complies!) and then mid-March starts my regular hiking
season down South and out West. I'll try to keep my
hand in the 'boxing a little as time permits, but I
don't expect to have much. Mostly I just wanted to
reach that US "2000 in 2 years" personal goal of mine
as an incentive to show those folks who do like the
numbers what is already within reach! So, happy trails
to all, and hope to see some of you in the fall!!!

Wanda


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