I did it! It was ME! I dug around in the dirt under the rock!

Okay, now that I've admitted it (again), allow me to clarify and
retort.

There was a significant crevice under the rock, between it and the
ground. This is obviously where the letterbox was meant to be. It
states so in the clues. And the space in the crevice was ALMOST the
right size, but not quite.

You might want to check the archives, because the "rule" I know says
you SHOULD NOT disturb the earth to BURY a letterbox. That means you
should not have to DIG for it when you go FIND it. I disturb the
earth just by walking on it.

So... it's not like I dug a HOLE in the ground to BURY the box, or
needed a SHOVEL to move the dirt, or could even QUANTIFY the amount
of dirt moved around under the rock. The dang box just needed a
little more room to fit so it would be safe from the rain and better
hidden from view.

Good grief. I am SOOO sorry to have offended anyone's purist
sensibilities in the pursuit of making the game happier for the next
finder... which could have been a first-time letterboxer... or even
YOU! I, and I'm sure many others, would rather find a letterbox
that's been well-hidden (have you not been following the thread
about poorly hidden letterboxes??) and is relatively DRY rather than
find one that has been vandalized, left open to the elements, and is
soaking wet because someone didn't want to move a little dirt around
to make the box more comfortable.

Although, in a world where it's easier to point out the negative
rather than the positive, I guess no good deed goes unpunished, eh?
I suppose now I'm going to catch hell for the "good deed" I did
today. Am I going to be told that I shouldn't have taken the SOGGY
logbook I found today so I could SEND IT BACK to the planter
(perhaps even dry it first?), and that I shouldn't have REPLACED the
logbook or given it NEW BAGGIES or rehid the box where it was
SUPPOSED TO BE (that is, where the directions say it should be, and
where it was when I found the the FIRST TIME)?

Let's have this be the end of this topic of conversation, please.
There's no sense in wasting zeros and ones on this anymore.

StarSAELS


--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, Mountain Scorpia
wrote:
>
> Somebody wrote:
>
> "........So, anyway, I dried it and gave it new bags, then dug
out some of
> the dirt under the big rock..."
>
> Not good. Ever. Don't have time to slog through the archives,
but I'm pretty sure it's one of the Few Rules from day one - Thou
Shalt Not Disturb The Earth Whilst Letterboxing.
>
> Even if you are trying to do a good deed. Please find another
way.
>
> Lucy
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> http://mail.yahoo.com
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

*Applause* I was going to reply to Lucy, but you said
it all. Well done. *Bravo*

--- StarSaels wrote:

> I did it! It was ME! I dug around in the dirt under
> the rock!
>
> Okay, now that I've admitted it (again), allow me to
> clarify and
> retort.
>
> There was a significant crevice under the rock,
> between it and the
> ground. This is obviously where the letterbox was
> meant to be. It
> states so in the clues. And the space in the crevice
> was ALMOST the
> right size, but not quite.
>
> You might want to check the archives, because the
> "rule" I know says
> you SHOULD NOT disturb the earth to BURY a
> letterbox. That means you
> should not have to DIG for it when you go FIND it. I
> disturb the
> earth just by walking on it.
>
> So... it's not like I dug a HOLE in the ground to
> BURY the box, or
> needed a SHOVEL to move the dirt, or could even
> QUANTIFY the amount
> of dirt moved around under the rock. The dang box
> just needed a
> little more room to fit so it would be safe from the
> rain and better
> hidden from view.
>
> Good grief. I am SOOO sorry to have offended
> anyone's purist
> sensibilities in the pursuit of making the game
> happier for the next
> finder... which could have been a first-time
> letterboxer... or even
> YOU! I, and I'm sure many others, would rather find
> a letterbox
> that's been well-hidden (have you not been following
> the thread
> about poorly hidden letterboxes??) and is relatively
> DRY rather than
> find one that has been vandalized, left open to the
> elements, and is
> soaking wet because someone didn't want to move a
> little dirt around
> to make the box more comfortable.
>
> Although, in a world where it's easier to point out
> the negative
> rather than the positive, I guess no good deed goes
> unpunished, eh?
> I suppose now I'm going to catch hell for the "good
> deed" I did
> today. Am I going to be told that I shouldn't have
> taken the SOGGY
> logbook I found today so I could SEND IT BACK to the
> planter
> (perhaps even dry it first?), and that I shouldn't
> have REPLACED the
> logbook or given it NEW BAGGIES or rehid the box
> where it was
> SUPPOSED TO BE (that is, where the directions say it
> should be, and
> where it was when I found the the FIRST TIME)?
>
> Let's have this be the end of this topic of
> conversation, please.
> There's no sense in wasting zeros and ones on this
> anymore.
>
> StarSAELS
>
>
> --- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, Mountain
> Scorpia
> wrote:
> >
> > Somebody wrote:
> >
> > "........So, anyway, I dried it and gave it new
> bags, then dug
> out some of
> > the dirt under the big rock..."
> >
> > Not good. Ever. Don't have time to slog
> through the archives,
> but I'm pretty sure it's one of the Few Rules from
> day one - Thou
> Shalt Not Disturb The Earth Whilst Letterboxing.
> >
> > Even if you are trying to do a good deed.
> Please find another
> way.
> >
> > Lucy
> >
> >
> __________________________________________________
> > Do You Yahoo!?
> > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam
> protection around
> > http://mail.yahoo.com
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
> >
>
>
>
>
>


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

I often find myself struggling to reconcile the concept of Leave No Trace
with letterboxing. Clearly, it is not a leave no trace activity. Yet, the
actions we take when hiking, planting, and hunting can go a long way towards
being good stewards: choosing our hiding locations with attention to
surrounding vegetation, picking up trash while we walk, not taking a direct
route to an off-trail box (creates social trails), considering what damage
someone looking for your box can do and factoring that in to your placement
and clues, etc, etc, etc.

So is digging a cavity a no-no? Well, it's certainly not leave no trace.
But expanding a natural hole so a box fits inside, to be covered snugly by a
good size rock is probably the best we can hope for in terms of leaving the
environment looking untouched to those who come after us. Letterboxes
covered by a small rock or a bunch of twigs (twigs!) is akin to littering.
How many boxes do we find that have an entry (or two or three) in the log
similar to "I stumbled upon your box - neat hobby!"? Considering that our
hobby generally involves leaving a plastic container in the woods, I hardly
think a little digging to create a snug hole is a crime; I actually have
finally come around in the last few months to thinking it's the lesser of
many evils when it comes to hiding.

Clueless



On 8/13/06, Mountain Scorpia wrote:
>
> Somebody wrote:
>
> "........So, anyway, I dried it and gave it new bags, then dug out some of
>
> the dirt under the big rock..."
>
> Not good. Ever. Don't have time to slog through the archives, but I'm
> pretty sure it's one of the Few Rules from day one - Thou Shalt Not Disturb
> The Earth Whilst Letterboxing.
>
> Even if you are trying to do a good deed. Please find another way.
>
> Lucy
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> http://mail.yahoo.com
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]