legerdemaine’s dilemma

     To be honest, I’ve never fully understood the nuances of involved in the F/P/X count.  Up until this time, it has been nothing more than a curiosity to me, since for the most part, accounting for these is rather obvious, or at least intuitive.  Today, I had a situation come up in which it most definitely was not.   I’d like some help in sorting this out, as it seems that keeping an accurate tally of these statistics is an essential part of letterboxing.

     I found a box that some critter or another had broken into. The stamp had been chewed on pretty hard. If fact, it was mauled so badly that I was indisposed to record it in my journal.  I keep a neat journal.  I really enjoy leafing through it and looking at those colorful images, again and again.  I couldn’t bring myself to include such an ugly, defaced image in my journal.  I can just imagine others leafing through it and having that jump out at them. “What’s that?”   I  hear the words, and I shudder.  I could not bring myself to include it.  But I found that box and I want credit for it.  So what should I do?

I personally would have stamped in, because every time I looked at that image I would have memories regarding the find, regardless of my own interpretation of its aesthetic value.

But wait, there’s more…

     Further complicating this is that fact that it was one of my boxes.

1) I figure that when the critter absconded with it, it was in fact, gone. For purposes of argument, I contend that it was no longer my box, but the critter’s.

2) The critter hid the box.  No it didn't, you did.  It's not like it posted clues on the website, or that you just happened to be in the right park that it hid its box in.  It stole your box, you didn't find its.  This has happened to others before.

3) The critter left clues that could be followed to the box. (So cryptic, in fact, that I needed help from an Indian tracker to find it).  So it was thinking, "hey, in case whoever left this tupperware here wants it back, let me drag it along and leave a trail so they can follow?

 

Therefore, I believe this is a legitimate find, and in fact, the first non-human made and placed letterbox. (Which, you may think, is reason enough to include the image in my journal, but I digress…)

Furthermore,

What do I do with the box? There was no point in leaving it for the rest of you to find, as the clue is ephemeral, and would have gotten harder to follow every day (even for old Indian trackers).  So, I took it, and am thinking of putting it back, somewhere near the original, but more in a critter-proof spot.  I could leave the stamp, even though it is butt-ugly.  New place, new stamp (at least, not the one I originally put in it).  I’d like to take another P for it.  May I?  If the consensus is no, then what incentive do I have to replace the thing?

Incentive? How about giving others the joy of experiencing a wonderful place? It's a selfless incentive, I know, but it still works.  People always say when they don't find the box, that it was still worth it to go because it was a beautiful area.

Finally,

     This is the first box that I’ve lost.  As anyone else who has lost one can attest, it is a rather traumatic experience.  These things are like children… all that love poured into them, proudly watching their progress… and then, to suddenly have them snatched away… it isn’t something that you can fully appreciate until it happens to you.  I’d like to suggest that we include another statistic in our tallies: M (missing). It would mean a lot to those of us who have suffered the loss of one of our beloved.  It would be a way for us to keep alive the memory of those lost.

I simply keep an image of all my boxes before I hide them, so if they are stolen I remember what they looked like.  So if it's missing, you will take it out of your P column and add it to your M column? What if it is recovered?

     So, I am looking for a ruling on this. Since we have no official judiciary to sort through these abstract cases and make determinations, I am willing to accept the consensus of the community at large.  May I add an F, P, and M to my tallies?

You can always do as you wish, there are no concrete rules.  But IMHO, I'd say no to the F, no to another P, and no M tally.  Just my two cents.

Kimberly in NJ