OK, here's what happened: I found the Hedgehog Mountain letterbox in
Aroostook County, Northern Maine. Unfortunately, the box was a mess
because it had been hidden in a spot that gets flooded. Thinking I'd
be doing a good thing, I rebuilt the box as well as I was able and
rehid it in a *new* location, one not likely to cause such problems.
Then that evening I clicked on "contact the placer" and sent the
owner, Browneyes96, a message describing what I had done and how the
clues needed to be changed so that others can find the box at the new
location.
Apparently nothing has happened. I've had no response from
Browneyes96, positive or negative, and the clues remain unaltered.
If anyone goes up there using the clues currently listed, they're not
likely to find the box. So what can I do to make this right?
I'm about 1400 miles away in Florida now, I won't be going back to
make further adjustments.
I Moved Somebody's Letterbox - Now What?
2 messages in this thread |
Started on 2006-06-16
I Moved Somebody's Letterbox - Now What?
From: Kirbert (PalmK@nettally.com) |
Date: 2006-06-16 00:59:20 UTC-04:00
Re: I Moved Somebody's Letterbox - Now What?
From: Lady Hydrangea Prisspott nee Hedge (lady_prisspott@yahoo.com) |
Date: 2006-06-16 22:39:27 UTC
Dearest Letterboxers,
As no one has tackled this her Ladyship shall adopt a stern motherly
tone and take this on.
What were you thinking? While altruism is a laudable characteristic
one should temper ones zeal with reason. If one were possessed of the
knowledge that one would not be with in less than a 1400 mile radius
of this box then the prudent course of action would be to repair the
box with such paraphernalia as one has on ones person, replace it
EXACTLY where found and contact the placer advising such of your
suspicions that the box was placed in a diluvian environment. This
also begs the question of your familiarity with the environment. If
one is visiting an area and is not a PhD geologist it could be an
erroneous conclusion that the area is flood prone. The box may have
been in an area that experienced a freak inundation but is otherwise
arrid. Again your admirable desire to do a good deed may have led you
to an incorrect assumption.
This chiding though is of no real value to the present situation
albeit something to consider in the future and hopefully a cautionary
tale for others. The situation at hand is a box whose whereabouts are
now unknown to the placer and the new location is known only to you.
This untenable situation should not be without remedy. It would be her
Ladyship's recommendation that you make another attempt to contact the
placer by requesting that they contact you. If you do this on the
other well known letterboxing sites you may be able to find them or
someone who knows them. You then will have to apologize for your
Olympic caliber conclusion jumping and provide them with the location
so that they may remedy the problem. If after a reasonable time of say
one or 2 weeks there is no response from the placer it would be her
Ladyship's recommendation that you request that someone in the
vicinity who could return this box to it's original location contact
you that you may advise them of the current location so that they can
relocate it. Neither should one assume that a few attempts to contact
the placer are sufficient, they may merely be incommunicado or simply
taking a break from the hobby. Her Ladyship feels that the most
responsible course of action is to return it to it's original place
and await the placers return. If they never do and the box is lost in
a flood then that is the placers problem not yours, the box including
it's location ultimately still belongs to the placer not the larger
letterboxing world.
Placement of a letterbox is sacred to many placers and one should
never attempt to make corrections. There may be many reasons one does
not immediately grasp for placing a box in a certain location. Many a
boxer has been tempted to move a box that they feel may have been
re-hidden incorrectly assuming that they know better than the last
person to stamp in or even than the placer. Such confidence is to
snatch a grace beyond reason. One cannot know the intentions, or for
that matter intellectual capabilities of the placer. They may have it
all wrong and you may be right but one should never "mess" with
someone else's creation. Contact the placer and advise them of their
folly but one should never assume that one knows better no matter how
confident one is. It is never impolite to express your honest concerns
but is always impolite to assume the authority to make corrections.
Her Ladyship hopes that the mere suggestion of such a scenario
involving ones mother would make this clear but lets imagine it.
You've invited your mother to your home for dinner, she enters scans
you with the intensity of a 3 tesla Magnetic resonance imager and asks
what on earth you've done to your hair while rearranging the flowers
in the centerpiece and clicking her tongue as she places the desert
fork at the top of the plate instead of to the left of the plate. Does
this illustrate the situation clearly enough?
I hope this information is helpful. Remember that repairs are fine as
long as they don't involve altering or replacing a stamp or log book
or changing the location. All these things are integral to the
artistic expression of the placer. Torn baggies broken Tupperware are
all fair game. If a log book is full leaving a second one is fine but
don't remove the original and contact the placer and let he or she
know what you've done. Even replacing the container is iffy; her
Ladyship occasionally uses a fine delft jar and would shudder to think
that it had been replaced with Tupperware.
Warmest regard,
Lady Prisspott
As no one has tackled this her Ladyship shall adopt a stern motherly
tone and take this on.
What were you thinking? While altruism is a laudable characteristic
one should temper ones zeal with reason. If one were possessed of the
knowledge that one would not be with in less than a 1400 mile radius
of this box then the prudent course of action would be to repair the
box with such paraphernalia as one has on ones person, replace it
EXACTLY where found and contact the placer advising such of your
suspicions that the box was placed in a diluvian environment. This
also begs the question of your familiarity with the environment. If
one is visiting an area and is not a PhD geologist it could be an
erroneous conclusion that the area is flood prone. The box may have
been in an area that experienced a freak inundation but is otherwise
arrid. Again your admirable desire to do a good deed may have led you
to an incorrect assumption.
This chiding though is of no real value to the present situation
albeit something to consider in the future and hopefully a cautionary
tale for others. The situation at hand is a box whose whereabouts are
now unknown to the placer and the new location is known only to you.
This untenable situation should not be without remedy. It would be her
Ladyship's recommendation that you make another attempt to contact the
placer by requesting that they contact you. If you do this on the
other well known letterboxing sites you may be able to find them or
someone who knows them. You then will have to apologize for your
Olympic caliber conclusion jumping and provide them with the location
so that they may remedy the problem. If after a reasonable time of say
one or 2 weeks there is no response from the placer it would be her
Ladyship's recommendation that you request that someone in the
vicinity who could return this box to it's original location contact
you that you may advise them of the current location so that they can
relocate it. Neither should one assume that a few attempts to contact
the placer are sufficient, they may merely be incommunicado or simply
taking a break from the hobby. Her Ladyship feels that the most
responsible course of action is to return it to it's original place
and await the placers return. If they never do and the box is lost in
a flood then that is the placers problem not yours, the box including
it's location ultimately still belongs to the placer not the larger
letterboxing world.
Placement of a letterbox is sacred to many placers and one should
never attempt to make corrections. There may be many reasons one does
not immediately grasp for placing a box in a certain location. Many a
boxer has been tempted to move a box that they feel may have been
re-hidden incorrectly assuming that they know better than the last
person to stamp in or even than the placer. Such confidence is to
snatch a grace beyond reason. One cannot know the intentions, or for
that matter intellectual capabilities of the placer. They may have it
all wrong and you may be right but one should never "mess" with
someone else's creation. Contact the placer and advise them of their
folly but one should never assume that one knows better no matter how
confident one is. It is never impolite to express your honest concerns
but is always impolite to assume the authority to make corrections.
Her Ladyship hopes that the mere suggestion of such a scenario
involving ones mother would make this clear but lets imagine it.
You've invited your mother to your home for dinner, she enters scans
you with the intensity of a 3 tesla Magnetic resonance imager and asks
what on earth you've done to your hair while rearranging the flowers
in the centerpiece and clicking her tongue as she places the desert
fork at the top of the plate instead of to the left of the plate. Does
this illustrate the situation clearly enough?
I hope this information is helpful. Remember that repairs are fine as
long as they don't involve altering or replacing a stamp or log book
or changing the location. All these things are integral to the
artistic expression of the placer. Torn baggies broken Tupperware are
all fair game. If a log book is full leaving a second one is fine but
don't remove the original and contact the placer and let he or she
know what you've done. Even replacing the container is iffy; her
Ladyship occasionally uses a fine delft jar and would shudder to think
that it had been replaced with Tupperware.
Warmest regard,
Lady Prisspott