screen free week: letterboxing

As I mentioned yesterday, we're celebrating Screen-Free Week at Naiya's Waldorf school.  It's a bit odd actually since one of the tenets of early childhood Waldorf education is to maintain an almost completely screen-free environment for all the children.  Like us, many families have exposed their kids to little or no tv, movies, computer screens, video games, ipads or cell phones and likely won't until they're 9 or 10. 
Yup, we're those people.  
Feel free to run screaming from our nuttiness at any time you choose.
There are folks at our school for whom being screen-free isn't a regular practice however.  A lot of them are new to Waldorf education or just struggle with (or oppose) the concept for various reasons.  Since we've not had screens in out daughter's life from the beginning and we're not big screen folks ourselves (other than internet usage and blogging :), having a young child who doesn't watch movies, tv or use a smart phone for anything is pretty easy for us.  (I think it's a lot harder if screens have previously been in your life and then you try to give them up.  Kuddos to all those struggling with that transition!)  We don't really miss screens and spend a lot of time making crafts, telling stories, gardening, doing chores and exploring nature.  Others struggle though to reduce screen-time or to understand why they should.  It can be hard to wrap your head around.  That's why we're sharing information and ideas by celebrating this campaign, and today we're hosting a play date to help inspire families to enjoy the out of doors (a fantastic way to replace screen time) in new and interesting ways.

About two years ago our family discovered Letterboxing and that has become a big part of our  outdoor family time. 

But what IS Letterboxing you ask?

For those unfamiliar with this fun and interesting pastime, Letterboxing is an intriguing outdoor hobby combining elements of art, puzzle solving, orienteering and exploring and is great fun for children and adults alike.  It originated in the 1850's in England but has morphed over the centuries into a worldwide, more modern sort of game wherein seekers follow clues (found on various websites, through local clubs or discovered by word of mouth) to find small, waterproof boxes hidden in public places. 

Each box contains a logbook and rubber stamp and explorers likewise carry a stamp and logbook when out on a quest.  When a letterbox is discovered, finders make an imprint of the letterbox's stamp in their book and leave their personal impression, the date and perhaps a small note in the letterbox's visitor's book. The rubber stamps are most often hand carved and can be amazingly intricate and beautiful.  The clues range from very straightforward directions telling one exactly where to go to complicated puzzles or riddles that offer only vague inferences to a box’s locale.

It’s like a treasure hunt where the treasure is both taken and left behind!  (It’s also a little like geocaching if you’ve heard of that but with more artistic flair and no plastic trinkets.)  It’s also a great way to find beautiful places when on a road trip or visiting out-of-town relatives or friends.

For our Screen-Free Week play date, we planted three letterboxes in a local park and handed out logbooks, stamps (store bought) and clues to those who came to join us for the day.  We'll not post those clues here since we pulled them after the event but for those interested in trying out letterboxing in your local community we'd suggest checking out the Atlasquest or Letterboxing North America websites.  Both are filled with tutorials, tips and thousands of clues to boxes hidden all over the world.  There's probably a letterbox near you!  (If not, maybe you can plant one!)  Why not join the letterbox community and enjoy some great screen-free fun?

the oregon garden

 The Oregon Garden in Silverton (only miles from Silver Falls and about an hour outside of Portland) is a spectacular 80 acre botanical garden with 20 specialty gardens and an adjoining resort.

We try to get a visit in once a year and stay a night at the Resort to take advantage of the Dinner Special they offer with lodging, wine, breakfast and admission to the garden included.  (Great deal for $109!)  We spend a day at Silver Falls State Park, make full use of the resort's outdoor pool and hot tub, enjoy a decent dinner and comfortable room then spend the next day exploring the beautiful (and sometimes quirky) grounds.

This time around we also did a little letterbox hiding to spice up our regular routine.  (For our newest search clues click here and here.)

our first letterbox plant

stamping a found letterbox

This summer we've done a bit of Letterboxing here and there and even finally came up with our own signature stamp.  After discovering that it wasn't nearly so difficult as we imagined, we were inspired to carve a few more and finally planted some letterboxes of our own!

For those who have never heard of Letterboxing, I, as always, totally recommend you check it out and share this fun family activity in your own home town or whilst out and about on travels.  (For some helpful and informative sites and to start your own adventures today click here and here.)

If you're a local (in or around Portland, Oregon), you might even give our clues a try and see if you can find our first two plants.  (Since we are usually doing our questing with a five year old, those we've searched for with riddles or confusing directions have often been just really frustrating.  To make these simple for others with children in tow, we kept our clues pretty straightforward.  They're both also less than half mile walks on very easy trails.)  Great for kids and fun for the whole family...


"Gnome's Home" at Tryon Creek State Park in Portland, Oregon:
Tryon Creek State Park was named after Socrates Hotchkiss Tryon who originally established a land claim there in 1850 (and who I must mention because of his exceedingly excellent moniker). This 645 acre woodland park contains a number of trails for both horses and people and also seems to be home to dozens of magical hidey holes where we are certain colonies of gnomes and possibly fairies also live.

To locate the one gnome home we did verify (and the location of our very first letterbox) start your search at the southeast end of the Visitors Center (entrance off of SW Terwilliger Blvd.) and proceed down the Center Trail. Take a right at the Maple Ridge Trail and then a left onto Middle Creek Trail where many paths converge. You'll pass a bench with a back.  Midway down a fairly steep hill, you'll approach another bench with no back.  Have a seat.  Across the path you'll notice a fallen log.  Walk up the log to its end where you'll spy a circle of trees with a rotting stump at their center.  It's there you'll find our Gnome's Home.


"Native Salmon" at Wildwood Recreation Site in Welches, Oregon:
The Wildwood Recreation Site is located 40 miles east of Portland, off U.S. Highway 26, just past the 39 mile marker.  Nestled along the Mount Hood Scenic Byway near the town of Welches, this beautiful day use area offers a chance to explore natural stream and wetland ecosystems along accessible interpretive trails and boardwalks.   The site also offers family picnic units, several group shelters, outdoor picnic kitchens, playing fields, volleyball and basketball courts and fully accessible trails.  It likewise provides access to the Salmon River and an extensive system of trails in the Salmon Huckleberry Wilderness (managed by the Mount Hood National Forest).

After paying the $5 fee to enter the park, skip the first junction and take the next left.  Park near the covered information area and bathrooms.  From there, head down the path past the silver salmon.   (Many wooden salmon will also line your trail.)  At the end of the boardwalk go left.  Pass the mini mountains and take a right at the fork.  Some grand old stumps will line either side of the path just before it forks again.  Go left at this fork passing a hidden world of streams.   Just past the forest gifts, heed the blue arrow at the 4-way crossroads.  Over the bridge follow the fish's nose at the next junction.  After stopping for a most unusual view of the river, continue on the path until you spy another bridge.  Pause to read Coyotes Tale then cross the bridge.  Where trolls might lurk, you'll find Native Salmon atop a support pillar covered in moss.


Do let us know if you find them.  (That's what makes the whole thing so much fun!)  Subsequent plants of ours will be listed as we place them under owners name "Spaceship Passengers" at Letterboxing.org .

carving our first letterbox stamp

 "We travel together, passengers on a little spaceship, dependent on its vulnerable reserves of air and soil; all committed, for our safety, to its security and peace; preserved from annihilation only by the care, the work and the love we give our fragile craft..."
                                       





(For those who have never clicked on the "passengers" tab at the top of my page, this extract is, in fact, the source of my excessively long and somewhat bizarre blog title.  The quote above is from a 1965 speech to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations given by then U.S. ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson II.  For more info on Mr. Stevenson feel free to click on the aforementioned tab.)

My strange blog moniker is also the handle our family uses when we're out Letterboxing.  

For those unfamiliar with this fun and interesting pastime, letterboxing is an intriguing outdoor hobby combining elements of art, puzzle solving, orienteering and exploring and is great fun for children and adults alike.  It originated in the 1850's in England but has morphed over the centuries into a worldwide, more modern sort of game wherein seekers follow clues (found on various websites, through local clubs or discovered by word of mouth) to find small, waterproof boxes hidden in public places.  Each box contains a logbook and stamp and explorers likewise carry a stamp and logbook when out on a quest.  When a letterbox is discovered, finders make an imprint of the letterbox's stamp in their book and leave their personal impression, the date and perhaps a small note in the letterbox's visitor's book. The stamps are most often hand carved and can be amazingly intricate and beautiful.  (To begin your first letterboxing adventure try clicking here or here.)

Now, for over a year, our little band of seekers has been somewhat untrue to letterboxing tradition and we've been leaving imprints of a store bought stamp in the logbooks we've hunted and found.  (Purists are no doubt shuddering.)  With a new seeking season starting up, however, we've finally come up with an image to suit our odd epithet and decided to try our hands at carving our first letterbox stamp.  

Most of the stamps we've come across have been made from erasers and since I found a giant one of those at our local craft store and we happen to already own a set of wood carving tools, I drew out our image and Ryan volunteered to take up the carving.

With our family of three (which includes one beautiful curly haired girl), the image of ourselves as "spaceship passengers" was perhaps a little complex for a first try.  (The black line and scribble were Naiya's attempt at her own stamp idea...  In the end, we decided to go with something a little less abstract.)

Using his various sharp (and heretofore unused) wood carving tools, Ryan carefully cut away all the negative space around the drawing.  After a year of fretting over the difficulty of this undertaking, we (or should I say he) found it surprisingly simple in the end. 

I'm not sure we've got all those continents exactly right and Naiya's curls might look more like a crown but, finally, we're the proud new owners of our first hand carved letterbox stamp.  

olallie lake 2011

 We're back!  I'm ending another blogging hiatus to let you know we've just returned from a recent vacation up at Olallie Lake.  This trip was a repeat of one we did last year with the addition of mosquitoes, tantrums and letterboxes and a reduction in caught fish.  Still, it was a relaxing week in a beautiful area with great weather.

 Olallie Lake is up in Mt. Hood National Forest within the shadow of Mt. Jefferson in an area home to over 200 lakes and small ponds and endless fields of huckleberries.  By state law the lake is un-swimmable and motorized vehicles are forbidden but it is stocked with rainbow and brook trout.  Apparently the 7,000 fish they released there were caught prior to our arrival though.  Or so say the diligent but unrewarded fishermen.

 As usual, we took a few hikes on this trip.  This time around we used some Letterboxing clues to lead us up new and interesting paths (and into some pretty intense mosquito breeding grounds as well).  (For more info on Letterboxing visit here or here.)  Below are various shots of our circumscription of Monan Lake which Naiya loves for the many plank paths which keep one from treading in the swampy grounds surrounding the pristine waters.

 We were unable to locate the letterbox we searched for there but did find a series of them on other adventures to Timber Lake and Upper Lake.  These hikes were both beautiful and burdensome.  The mosquitoes were out in full force, especially where the numerous small ponds lined the sides of the trails. 
 And then there was the girl child...
 Let it not be said that our every moment is lightness and joy (although the great majority of them really are).  For some reason this time around, Naiya was a rather unpleasant hiking companion.  Her feet were sore; she was tired; she was hungry; she was hot; over and over again, she just could not take another step.  Her loud complaints and screams were enough to keep away all wildlife (except the unwanted insects that continually attacked us).  Coupled with the swarms of biting, flying beasties and the continuously disconsolate child, we practically ran some of these paths carrying her on our shoulders and only saw the glorious flora, fauna and incredible views in a passing blur.

 In the end, we spent the bulk of our time just relaxing around our cabin, hanging out at the beach down the path, swimming at a lake a short walk up the road and doing various natural crafts.

 Of course, mommy brought along baskets full of crafting supplies and we produced quite a collection  of handmade goodness both from natural found objects and things we brought from home. 
 More on outdoor camp crafts to come...

letterboxing

As some of you may have noticed, it's been quiet over here for more than a week.  The silence was due to our recent vacation out to Reno, Nevada to join in the celebration of Naiya's Great Grammie Billie's 90th birthday.  We drove there and back stopping half way in both directions to spend some time in the lovely town of Ashland, Oregon.  I thought I'd share the sights and stories of our furlough a bit at a time beginning with our favorite new-found hobby...

Just before we left on our six day adventure, I had been perusing some of my favorite blogs and came across the idea of Letterboxing from Beth over at Acorn Pies.  What a gift this was!  After reading Beth's post I immediately googled "Letterboxing" and found the very informative and helpful Letterboxing North America site. 
For those who, like me, have never heard of this fun create, seek and search game, it's a kind of a local/international treasure hunt.  It began in the mid 1800's in Devon, England when a guide left a bottle of wine hidden on a trail for future visitors.  This morphed into future hikers leaving letters in various boxes throughout the moors for the next travelers to collect and mail.  Eventually the basic idea traversed the ocean and today in North America there are several sites dedicated to Letterboxing. 
In its modern form, small, weather-proof boxes (or plastic containers) are hidden in mostly wild public places.  These "boxes" contain a small rubber stamp (often hand-carved) and a notebook.  After acquiring clues via web-site or word of mouth, finders make an imprint of the box stamp into their own notebook and leave an impression of their personal stamp along with their name, date and perhaps a short note in the letterboxes visitor book.  (This is similar to geocaching which I had also not heard of until last week.)

The great thing about discovering Letterboxing the day before we left on vacation was that we were suddenly given a whole new array of possible adventures in each town and city we visited as well as prospective exploits along the way.  Even as I was walking through a park in Reno explaining my excitement and enthusiasm to my mother-in-law about the fun this could be for our little girl, Ryan pulled out his smart phone and found that there was a Letterbox in the very park we were right then enjoying!  Sadly, we weren't able to locate that box (we think it had been pilfered) but two days later in Ashland (after we had procured notebook and stamp of our own) we found our very first box!

It was a rainy day in Lithia Park and the box and its contents were swimming in bags of water.  We did our best to dry them out and keep them that way.

Within an hour we had found our second box in the same park.   This one began with a simple riddle that took us a while to unravel (while the first rain of our trip began to cascade in sheets from the sky).
After a fair amount of frustration, Ryan solved the puzzle and we located Will S. about forty feet from where we had originally parked the car.

For our first foray into this fantastic new diversion, I think we did pretty well.

We discovered the next day that it might behoove one to do a little research prior to setting out on a quest. 

When the clues for our third adventure said "go up the trail and pass the second junction..." we didn't account for a two mile hike up a mountain.

Still, we found "The Beautiful Butterfly" and caught sight of some spectacular views which we otherwise would never have come across.



Home again to Portland we discovered that there are over a hundred Letterboxes in our esteemed City of Roses.

Never a dull day of Summer again shall pass...