What a day!

I started off today not having a clue what I was doing other than cleaning my house and going grocery shopping (neither of which I got to, incidentally). I woke up around 7:30 and started on my stamp series I'm carving (more on that to come later). Around 8 I decided that I really wanted to attempt to be the first finder for a box that went up last night so I headed off to find it. When I got to the park, I saw a car sitting in the parking lot with no condensation on it, which meant it had just gotten there. I already had the feeling that another boxer was there because who else would be out a diserted playground at 8 on a Sunday morning? I started following the clues and saw a woman with a bag walking across the same field I needed to be in. I then saw her come out of the EXACT area I needed to be in an was convinced she was a boxer. I went to the tree the box was hidden in and was getting very annoyed that I couldn't find it. A very new boxer planted it so I figured it wouldn't be hidden that hard and after about 5 minutes it occurred to me that the other woman had the box! After my epiphany I set out to find her and get it.

Well, I ended up finding the box alright, but I found it in the hands of Infinity! It was so cool to meet her out boxing because I had never met another boxer out on the trail before (and had never met her) and because I have loved her stamp since I saw it in the very first box I ever found. I wasn't even bummed that I didn't get to be the first finder. She was really nice and it was such a cool experience that I thought that was going to be the highlight of my day...but I was wrong...

After coming home, finishing my stamp, showering, etc, Brent and I finally decided to go out and get some boxes before going shopping. We found the first one in our hunt without incident but on our way to the second, we came across a group of people gathered around the tree that the clues listed we were looking for. I said to Brent, "If that's another group of boxers, I'll die. Twice in one day is too much". As we got closer one of the people called out, "You wouldn't happen to be a LETTERBOXER would you?" I laughed and said I was and he said "Which way's north?". Very cool to finally hear that on the trail.

It turns out it was Party Pig (who I had previously met at the WNY gathering) and Wes, who had happened across the newbies Hy 5 and then Brent and I. It's amazing how many people will come out of the woodwork when a new box is planted. They asked me if I was Katchick (which I am still miffed about because we almost always box together so how did she get a rep and I didn't??? WTF??? :P). Ironically she happened to call me almost that same minute so I told her to come over as we were having an impromptu mini-gathering. We exchanged stamps and I stamped into the boxes they had at the table (all the boxes I had been trying to find). I also realized then that I was in the same exact spot that I had met Inifinity this morning (I came in from the other side of the park and am bad with directions so it took a while to sink in). Katee (Katchick) finally showed up and we spent about an hour and a half talking about our adventures in LB'ing. I also found out the guy from Hy5 (I don't remember his name, how hard do I suck?) is from the same minuscule town I grew up in and where my mom still lives, and that Wes went to high school with my dad in an even SMALLER town in the Adirondacks. Small world isn't even fitting, it was surreal.

After we finally tore ourselves away (Party Pig and Wes have some GREAT stories and we can't wait to meet up with them again), Katee and I went to get some more boxes before we went back home. I still maintain that I HATE store bought stamps and I truly feel you should have to find a certain amount of boxes before you can plant any so you really get a feel for boxing. But, I'm sure this has been going on for long before I was around so I shouldn't have a say in it. I guess I'm just going to have to deal with it but it still annoys me.

Either way, today was amazing. I'm excited that I finished my first stamp and it came out fairly well and I can't wait to finish my other 2 stamps to plant my mini-Halloween series. I'm excited to get some boxes out there and see how it all works. It was also SO COOL to finally meet people on the trail and exchange some good stories and help some newbies get more excited about it all. This is why I love this hobby so much, you never know what you'll come across.

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