Not knowing that the sun was going to be coming out (and still not quite
believing it when I see it!) Be and Ma, under the watchful eye of Na, of
course,(sounds like an Egyptian deity or something) headed off in the
drizzle to the playground at the Grange.
We brought two big towels to wipe off the slides and all the other
equipment, but, somehow both kids ended up with very wet bottoms and very
big smiles on their faces! "We're wet and dirty and we love it" they
remarked, mimicking a line from the Fairly Odd Parents (in that episode the
main characters were disguised as fish and swimming around in a toilet bowl,
so I should consider myself lucky!...)
After the required amount of bribery playground time was reached (a very
tricky determination -- too much playground time and they are too tired and
therefore whiney, too little playground time and they are extremely
reluctant to leave and therefore whiney... As a parent, you must judge the
moment juuuuuuuust right!) we donned the pack, slathered on the bug spray
and pulled out our clues.
We were very intrigued by this set of clues because Rich had the very cool
idea of using photographs to lead to the box in lieu of words! Pretty neat!
We followed the pics (17 in all, #6 being the group of trees behind which
the kids used to pee 'cause the porto potty was really stinky at that time)
into the woods! We got to the fence with little problem, viewing two homes,
neither of which was ours, but I can tell you which of the two I would
choose if I had to....
Be was a trooper. Miss Ma was a little sensitive having decided that all
encounters with anything remotely "prickly" be announced with shrill
screams. I am sad to announce that even the poor little holly trees have
been unjustly placed in this category (sorry Mary, that eliminates a bunch
of clues to your boxes!)
The trees were wet, the plants were wet, the long grasses and ivy were wet.
Drip, drip in the woods. At the fence, perhaps under the pressure of
nature's "Chinese water torture" Mom neglected to carefully study the photo
and sent us following the fence down the wrong way. It was a long fence.
Having realized our error, we retraced our steps, carrying Miss Ma back over
the many holly trees and other perilous vegetation, until we found the logs
at the end.
It was Miss Ma's turn to actually "find" the box. Now, normally, I scout a
little ahead, hoping to see the box and gently point her in the right
direction. But, that afternoon -- she found it before anyone else all on
her own! You go girl! What fooled me where the sticks on top. In the
photo they look nice and light gray. In reality, they were a deep brown,
saturated from the weeks of rain.
We were even happier to discover that we were the first ones to find this
box (happy dance in place 'cause the logs were slippery!).
Thanks Rich for this fun and innovative set of clues!! BeMa
P8 (clues for #9 coming soon) F98
P.S. I have to mention that some of the thousand words these photos are
worth have to include the names of the people who contributed money to
refurbish this playground. It is a lot of fun to read the names of
playmates and their folks. It is even a comforting moment of reflection to
recognize those memorialized on benches etc. That is what it feels like to
be part of a community.
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