What were we doing here being eaten up alive by mosquitoes and gnats instead
of dining, alone, together (that sounds funny, doesn't it?...) at a
restaurant without any little containers of ketchup by our sides?!

I'll admit it. It was my fault. I just couldn't let it go. I knew we
could find those boxes. So close, yet so far. It was driving me nuts.
Especially as these were mystery boxes that we had figured out almost a year
ago. So, Da, a wise wise man who knows that Na needs to be appeased AND fed
at regular intervals had agreed to go back to [sic] to find the boxes before
heading out for our romantic dinner.

We figured this would be an easy one. It seemed custom tailored for kids
with all the [sic] and [sic] and finding all the clues and all. After all,
what self respecting adult would ride around on the [sic], not to mention
the [sic] without at least one child along?!

We didn't even dress for a hike. I had my strappy sandals and no hat or eau
de Off. Run in, scoop it up, stamp it in and "hello linen napkins and no
cutting anyone else's food" (unless Da really needed me to..)

We left the kids happy as clams in Grandma's craft room. Grandma, like me
never throws out anything with artistic possibilities. Thus, she has a
basement full of crap (I mean inspirational snippets). Unlike me, she is
smart enough to let the kiddies have at it (thereby giving them loads of fun
while transferring ownership and location of all this stuff to my house --
and, of course, being the kids art work, forget about the basement -- it
gets routed to one of the main floors -- normally on top of a stack on a
flat surface somewhere where no one has the immediate need to sit) Grandma
and Grandpa had recovered sufficiently from their stress at the pool (or
maybe they hadn't -- they were all in the basement after all, weren't
they?!)

Da and I got an early start, around 4 and headed for the park. This would
give us plenty of time for the quick boxing detour and a wonderful,
relaxing, intimate dinner at a wonderful, relaxing and intimate pan asian
restaurant. Da could have the sushi he loved and I could order one of
everything else and let him taste (after all -- sharing is the way with
asian food!)

We found the correct Cafe. It was closed, but, no worries as we expected to
eat fine real soon. Before hitting the trail, I checked in with my mom to
see how my dad was doing. He was in the hospital for some exploratory
surgery. Mom said it was progressing well. Oddly enough, she commented
that the lights at the hospital had all gone off but then come back on.
Strange, but, didn't think much of it.

With our really cool Mad Libs type clues, we went in search of box #1. This
time the compass readings made sense and we found the trail into the woods.
Rocks in trail were all where they were supposed to be. And, without Miss
Ma (who I really did miss [Be too] but I knew was having a great time with a
Grandma and Grandpa who loved her [and him] almost as much as Da and I did
so it was ok that Da and I got out to enjoy ourselves -- alone -- every once
in a while without being plagued with guilt. Right?...) As I was saying,
without Ma to trip over all these clue rocks, Da and I were maintaining a
good pace. I have to admit, though, that the trail was going on a little
longer than we had presupposed. Strappy sandals were slipping to the right
and the left and the smell of eau de Off would have been real sweet right
now.... We found the Choo Choo Letterbox and stamped in. Great stamp!

On to box #2. We walked for a while seeking a "culvert". What is a culvert
anyway? Da looked to me, who is the family vocabulary expert. I did
graduate with higher honors than he did, but, I mean, really, who thinks
about that once you've graduated?! (ok -- I mean, who brings it up all the
time unnecessarily after one graduates?! Ok -- I mean -- what was that
number for Mensa? [only kidding -- I'm not going to bring that whole
subject up again!]) We kept walking. The bugs were swarming, the strappy
sandals were stretching and the hats were dug out of the backpack and
positioned over the "Yeah -- we're finally going out somewhere" hair do. I
started thinking about all the mosquitoes and the tics. Lime disease. West
Nile. My Mom actually contracted West Nile three years ago (disorientation,
loss of motor skills, apparent stroke, coma, the whole shebang). She
recovered fully -- amazingly because she was lucky enough to be treated by a
doctor who recognized the symptoms (very uncommon back then). I didn't want
to go through that again.

We finally found the fence posts and started counting. Funny thing, though,
those posts were awfully high up and hard to count. I'm surprised we even
noticed them. Another alarm bell started going off. Normally, when the
clues seem too convoluted -- you're doing something wrong (this was even the
case with Froggy -- although not with Glencarlyn which I still believe is
riding around in someone's back pack). We walked on. Sweat and itchy welts
do not a romantic picture make, but, I was determined and Da was going to
make me cry Uncle first since he had agreed to search for these boxes again
just for me. We did finally find the box and this second stamp was also
great. But, our undying thanks goes out to whomever left that little note
of encouragement in the baggy in the wrong hollow tree! One other small
note -- fence posts and fence poles are synonymous for this box. The poles
are easy to find and count -- just keep going.

I knew I should have paid attention to all those "Help -- I don't know my
trees" postings earlier. I did save them and bookmark the sites. But, lot
o good that did us now. We couldn't identify the black cherry tree. And,
if we could have and it had had cherries still hanging off of it, we would
have been happy cause I was sweaty, itchy, hungry and just a weeee bit
grumpy by now (not to mention no longer looking as fine as I had when we
left the in-laws) We counted more fence posts and looked behind lots of
double Sycamores -- at least I think they were Sycamores... I should say
that Da looked behind every tree because by now the sandals just weren't
going anywhere but out.

We finally gave up on box number three and retraced our steps to the car.
As we drove to the restaurant through all the tiny NJ towns we remarked on
how many of these little intersections seemed to have lights that were out.
Odd. Now, driving anywhere in Bergen county is an experience. There are no
main roads, only lots of curvy little roads through curvy little towns.
You've heard of ten European cities in eight days (I did that by train when
I was a teen). This is eleven little Jersey towns in ten minutes. If you
don't know where you are going -- you are toast. Fortunately, Da has a
wonderful sense of direction (you would have needed it to survive growing up
there). Unfortunately, we were using Grandma directions "go a little
further than the A&P and then take one of the next streets on the right, or
is it the left, I can't quite remember the name but you will remember it
when you see it -- you used to play Little League at a field there...." We
must have suddenly come into cell phone range because Da's phone started
ringing and he noticed there were quite a few missed calls. Turns out it
was Grandma and Grandpa explaining that all the power was out and the kids
were "freaking out" they were really sorry to ask, but, could we PLEASE
come home. We realized that was why so many of the street lights were out,
but, in so many towns? We turned off the Pokemon CD and turned on the radio
to learn of the blackout. Luckily they had already determined that it was
not terrorism and so we rested a bit easier. I am so glad that we did not
have to go through that anxiety again (although I felt for everyone else in
those moments of uncertainty!) As we drove, we passed Westwood, the town
where the really good pan Asian restaurant was and noticed that amazingly,
all those lights were on. We called the grandparents and told them to call
the restaurant to make a reservation for us all. We swung by the darkened
house and picked up the rest of the family, heading out to eat at a really
good pan Asian restaurant. The meal wouldn't be romantic or relaxing, but,
we would all be together, three generations breaking bread together. Are
you kidding? They had air conditioning -- we were going!! The meal was
great and a lot of fun. They even had special kiddie chop sticks. Ma only
got out of her seat (bumping the senior lady at the table next to us) about
twelve times (I hope she wasn't one of the ones from the pool...) Be and Da
were surrounded by sushi (one of the only things Be likes to eat, along with
Duck, king crab, lobster and really good lox...) Miss Ma and I prefer our
food cooked (and preferably covered in chocolate).

We sat at the table as long as we possibly could, eating, chatting with our
loved ones and soaking up the air conditioning. Although the staff never
said an unkind word (they were great!) we realized it was time to go. The
lights at home were still off and we tried to figure out the best sleeping
arrangements. All I could think of was "if the thermostat was set at 77
before the power went off..." I phoned my Mom to ensure that all was well
with my Dad. The hospital had a generator (of course) and that is why the
power had flicked back on. Dad was resting at it was actually a good time
to be in a hospital. Mom didn't have AC but they did have a mega generator
at home which powered the lights and appliances. Da and I thought -- no
power no AC versus no AC but lights and a full, cool fridge.... Hmmm. We
were packing the card to head to my folks (about an hour away) when the
lights flickered back on in Bergen County. I won't tell you how that
happened dramatically as I entered the house to get some more luggage and I
take no personal responsibility for my own magnetism actually causing this
to happen, but, I believe the facts speak for themselves!

We all breathed a sigh of relief. After all, now thousands of people could
see and function, cool off and hopefully return to their houses. AND we had
only missed fifteen minutes of the Amazing Race -- wahoooo! We ran to the
TV only to discover that every show (with the exception of CatDog) had been
preempted by the news. The story and film truly were amazing to see. All
those people in the streets, the dark Manhattan skyline. It really caused
us to reflect back.

I was surprised to the extent that they focused on Detroit, meaning no
disrespect. Da commented again that Michigan was a great state (having gone
to B school there) and that Detroit had some wonderful areas around it. "I
know" I fired back "I saw Risky Business!" I told you I am smarter than he
is.... He did choose me to marry though -- how smart is that?!!! (that's a
rhetorical question and the correct answer is "as smart as one can possibly
be with or without Mensa membership)

We used the blackout as an excuse to crank up the in-laws AC and all went to
sleep.

Thanks to the Cahillys for this fun set of boxes! BeMa

P.S. No one in Ohio hid a box near a certain set of power lines, did
you?!...

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