We have had several good letterboxing outings this week, including a
very fun gathering last Saturday in Flower Mound, Texas. Thanksgiving
was spent at home here in Houston with an ill child, so I'm happy that
we were able to go out and hit the trails (and go canoeing) today.

I haven't jumped into the fray about the clue sourcing. So now, when
I'm feeling good and relaxed from our most enjoyable day, I guess I will.

Just this week (which was an unusually heavy letterboxing week), we found:
-lots of boxes listed on either AQ or LBNA
-one box listed on a personal website
-one box with no clue at all
-a bonus box with no clues online (you have to find the parent box
where the clues are)
-a very elusive box that has been a goal of mine for nearly 6 months
-two boxes from a certain Texas boxer. His MO is that you have to get
the clues from him in person. They are not posted online anywhere. I
think this is charming.
--a box placed by a young girl, with help from her grandfather. She
even made it into a mystery.

Each of these boxes is different, as is each of the placers. I love
it that we can so easily hunt down the clues for a lot of boxes, like
the ones we found today. But, I love the extra layers to the onion
too--the clues that are illusive and mysterious and that you just
luckily and and sometimes randomly stumble onto one day. I love it
when a clue to a box just drops into your email box or is handed to
you on a scrap of paper. Or when you suddenly realize that something
has another meaning. . .and that you might want to look in a certain
place. I enjoy boxes you have to work for in one way or another. To
me, boxes that are less obvious are the scrumptious icing on the
letterboxing cake. (onions and cake, yuk!)

If I lived in Maine, I hope that I would have the opportunity to get
to know Phyto better and then she might willingly share her clues with
me. And if not, I would happily find the ones that I did have clues
for and perhaps hide some for Phyto to find.

. . .back to thinking up some more devious mystery box clues. . .you
may resume your discussion. . .I should really be plotting how to get
the kids back on their abandoned "school schedule" rather than
planning how to torture my fellow SE Texas letteboxers.
--Dewberry