mentioned on the MidAtlantic board before I commented here. In
addition, a comment was made prior to mine on this board about how
someone should not have taken Martian Maggot's boxes without
permission. From my understanding, it was LBNA management that
granted the adoption, so if you want to question someone on the
issue, it should be them and not Rick - as he could not have adopted
them without their permission. Being that it is simple to check the
links on LBNA for the NJ boxes that Martian Maggot listed in her e-
mail and see that they were currently under Ricks' adoption (as many
pages show the words "adopted from Martian Maggot"), I decided to
post here about it. As I said before, I am not taking sides here. I
do have an opinion about this, but I will leave it up to all of you
long timers here to argue about it, I prefer to try and see the good
in people and I like to focus on the positives in life. I can see
viewpoints from all sides including the fact that I have now spoken
in e-mail to both Rick & Kimberly about this. I certainly believe
that Rick decided to adopt the boxes and take on the responsibility
because he enjoys the hobby a great deal and wanted to see those
great boxes and locations preserved. I also believe that Kimberly
cares alot bout her boxes even though she left the area and was
somewhat out of touch with the LBNA community. How do you decide if
it's abandoned or not? And if it is, should it be left that way or
not? That's a tough one. No one likes litter, but a well placed
letterbox would probably not turn up as litter as they're hard enough
to find in the first place! But if they did get tossed out, it all
goes back to Darwin. Survival of the fittest. In this case, the
fittest letterbox. If you don't want trash, hide them better.
Although I am new to this hobby as of this past year I have put alot
of time and effort into it. I have found some boxes that Lewis &
Clark would have passed right by and I have found boxes that looked
like they were planted as an afterthought. Some boxes are advertised
as "Drive By's" because they are quick to do. But some look like
Drive-By's as in the placer "drove by" and threw the box out the
window and into a bush. While I can appreciate an occassional quick
find after walking hours to look for another box, I'd rather have it
be a short walk that requires solving some clues rather than, "Park
in the lot by the garbage can...go 10 steps at 100 degrees and find
the box under a park bench. Be careful to rehide as you're right in
front of the steps to the county court house" which apparently the
placer choose that spot while eating his McDonalds meal on a lunch
break. While that may be a spot for a hide-a-key rock for those who
like the urban hunt or as a challenge that some like to do in public
places, its not much of an adventure. Now don't get me wrong, I like
those but the real challenge should be to hide the mini-box in public
in a spot where it will hopefully remain hidden and not to place a
fullsize box and all the trimmings under a bench and cover it with
two leaves and a stick in the county square. But this is everyone's
hobby, so place as you will. But don't complain if the box winds it's
way to dumpsterville in the week it was placed. And that brings me
to my point, yes there is a point here. Martian Maggot has some
great box locations that require a lot of walking, great clues and
some great nature encounters. To my understanding, Rick tried to
make contact and while there may or may not have been contact made
(Only those involved really know the actual extent of the contact) it
was apparently LBNA honchos who assigned the boxes to Rick. I know
that he has put alot of time into trying to find and maintain the
boxes without any outside help. Was it his place to take on the
boxes of someone else, whether or not they had conversatons back and
forth? That's the question I guess -that LBNA needs to answer and
they so far have been curioulsy absent here from this discussion. So
as I said, I do have an opinion but I choose not to take sides. From
many conversations with Rick and a few recently with Kimberly I can
say that they both seem to care about Letterboxing and all it
entails. So, here's the only opinion I will share - let's work it
out and get back to the hunt.
-There's not enough joy in the world nowadays, let's do something
about it. Let's Letterbox More. -John
--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "Lady Hydrangea Prisspott nee
Hedge"
>
> Dearest Nathan et al,
>
> Please read the posts again, no one jumped the gun. No one mentioned
> Rick in Boca until Jersytrailblazer mentioned him explaining that he
> wasn't privy to all the information but stated that he was aware,
> through his correspondence with Rick in Boca, that he was trying to
be
> helpful. Please don't turn this in to a flame as her Ladyship feels
> there is an important point in all this that should be debated.
>
> When is a box abandoned and when does it become litter? Should there
> be a rule about what is abandoned? How else would we decide when
> enough time is enough. What would constitute abandonment, the last
> time anyone heard from the placer, the last time someone found the
> box, or merely the fact that a box is damaged in some way and the
> placer hasn't checked on it quickly enough to find the damage before
> someone else? It seems like that it would become a very slippery
slope
> to try to make a rule that imposes an expiration date on a box. It
is
> very likely that all letterboxers wouldn't read or accept a rule and
> people inevitably will misinterpret it and next thing you know
people
> are 'benevolently' adopting boxes everywhere. One mustn't forget
> Samuel Johnson's maxim that "Hell is paved with good intentions."
>
> It seems an inviolate truism that another persons art work is their
> own and should never be tampered with in any way but this runs the
> risk of abandoned letterboxes strewn all over Connecticut and the
rest
> of the country becoming more and more to be viewed as litter and
> giving letterboxing a bad name. We all know that letterboxes are
> abandoned and one does not want to see litter filling up parks and
> public lands so what does one do? How does one know when enough time
> passed is enough?
>
> Certainly Rick in Boca made an attempt to find the placer, a search
of
> the archives will bring up this string if anyone bothers to check
but
> we now have an angry owner. It seems there is a responsibility for a
> placer to monitor their boxes in some way otherwise their
abandonment
> turns their letterbox from art to litter and her Ladyship finds
litter
> unacceptable. However, one wouldn't want others to determine when a
> box has been abandoned because there will assuredly be disagreements
> about where this line should be drawn.
>
> What then should the answer be? In her Ladyship's pompous, elitist,
> self-righteous, arrogant, nasty, egotistical, mean opinion the onus
> should be on the placer and that, tempting though it may be to plant
> while on vacation or leave boxes behind when one moves, a placer
> should be responsible to find a foster parent for their box if it is
> in an area in which they cannot quickly reach the box for
maintenance.
> This is the only way to retain control over one's special creation
but
> it also imposes a responsibility to maintain ones boxes and once
> again, not all will read or follow this rule. Is there a reasonable
> solution here?
>
> Quizzically,
> LP
> Certainly Rick in Boca made an attempt to find the placer, a search
of
> the archives will bring up this string if anyone bothers to check
but
> we now have an angry owner. It seems there is a responsibility for a
> placer to monitor their boxes in some way otherwise their
abandonment
> turns their letterbox from art to litter and her Ladyship finds
litter
> unacceptable. However, one wouldn't want others to determine when a
> box has been abandoned because there will assuredly be disagreements
> about where this line should be drawn.
>
> What then should the answer be? In her Ladyships pompous, elitist,
> self-righteous, arrogant, nasty, egoptistical, mean opinion the
onnus
> should be on the placer and that tempting though it may be to plant
> while on vacation or leave boxes behind when one moves that a placer
> is responsible to find a foster parent for their box if it is in an
> area in which they cannot quickly reach the box for maintaince.
>