Flying High With New Friends!

We attended the Come Fly a Kite event at Cape Elizabeth an experience, nothing short of amazing!

The boxes were well placed and fun to search for...

The weather was amazing...

And the conversations were enriching...

All in all this event helped to clarify for us, yet another crucial element to this letterboxing hobby/obsession we all share... People

Jean Paul Sartre wrote, "Hell is other people..." What a cheery guy he must have been!?!

In my opinion, his hypothesis was and is way-off! The notion that, "Hell is other people" is: cynical, devoid of hope and totally unsound theologically! (But that's a topic for another discussion altogether!)

All the most vivid and enriching memories we have of the Come Fly a Kite Event are of people.

After finding 4 boxes planted at Fort Williams park, our plan was to sit and have lunch in the park and then hit the trail. But our plans naturally, easily and thankfully changed.

We Thompson Twins are relatively new to the letterboxing. Our F-count is pretty healthy, but we are new faces when it comes to events. As we started our pizza and lunch snacks we sat quietly on the lawn. Then letterboxer after letterboxer began to filter our way. What a great afternoon it became!

Shortly after we started lunch Queen Tiffiana and her lovely little girl, Violet came over to do an exchange. We chatted and shared stamps. One of our earliest finds as letterboxers came in Ellsworth, Maine. The box was the Busy Reader Bee, placed by Queen Tiffiana. It was so nice to meet her in person.

As we finished up our lunch a new face came to join us. He asked if it was rude to interrupt our lunch to ask for an exchange. We of course welcomed his visit. Our visitor was Conrad of the Buxton Boxers. We've emailed back and forth several times. And have been fortunate enough to find many of their boxes too. So, finally meeting was exciting. Before long his other half, FFersCraftyWife and their cute dog Tye joined the conversation. We especially enjoyed reminiscing about the Mr. Men books and The Letter People! If you haven't visited the Buxton Boxers' Town Farm Trail Series in Buxton you should.

The great thing about events isn't bouncing around from box to box and pumping up the F-counts, but meeting and spending time with people you only knew as carvers, planters and trail names in log books.

Earlier on in the day, we bumped into Crab Apple and Haint on the trail near the Portland Headlight. It was nice to swap stories and hints with friends we'd made in Skowheagan!

As the afternoon progressed we shared time with Phynstar an email buddy and one we'd enjoyed finding boxes from. The Wildcats who we'd only met in passing earlier this year. It was exciting to hear they'd listened to our podcast and read our blogs. Even when Alice told me I lied... "That the trail was a lot muddier and buggier then I described!" Ha, ha, ha!

Before long we met Mr. & Mrs. Muddy Paws. and their children. We loved hearing stories about boxing in Seattle. It was a great opportunity to thank them for their Forest Oasis series in Portsmouth.

The Bumper Bowlers crossed our path. And we swapped teaching stories with Mrs. Bumper Bowlers. We loved their family collection of stamps, each fitting the respective member's personality. (Except the cow her daughter chose.... But we liked it anyway!) :-)

We reconnected with Wanda of, "Wanda and Pete" and got her to stamp our book. (Still haven't come across your stamp from Skowheagan...)

Two boxers from Atlanta, Georgia even happened our way... Eidolon and Pinky!

Before long we were giving restaurant advice to Rose Island Fans visiting from Massachusetts!

The coast is never far from our hearts. We grew up downeast and meeting Limur was a great chance to talk about island life and boxing down in our old stomping grounds. (Thanks for the clue book by the way!)

We even boxed a bit with Team New Hampshire, trying to see a blackbird 13 different ways in the Robinson Woods. You can read all about it in the Team New Hampshire blog: http://teamnewhampshire.blogspot.com/2007/07/anyone-see-my-kite-crash-and-burn.html

People are an all important part of boxing. One chat that sticks in my mind is one we had with Giddy. Giddy told us that he boxed for 2 and 1/2 years before he ever met another letterboxer. And now whenever he goes to an event he spends most of his time at the event site talking with fellow boxers. He told me he hadn't even boxed yet today. And that my friends was eye-opening.

Why attend events? The event stamps... Sure they're nice. The event boxes... Those are always fun. The door prizes... Hey, we even won one this time! No... none of these are the reason to attend an event. The reason??? Connecting with the fellow community of boxers. We've discovered the reason is people!

Now, we may not make the rounds from blanket to blanket or table to table... like some of you veteran boxers are so adept at doing. But we take joy in the moments you all take to chat with us. Who knows? Maybe someday we'll be the old vets taking the newbies under our wings. But until then we'll watch some wonderful new friends and learn...

Thanks to Happy Daze (Ray and Susan) & Mainekokopellian for all the hard work they put into organizing the event, I'm sure enjoyed immensely by all.

Jean Paul Sartre wrote, "Hell is other people..." But I think he was full of it! Because the friendships we've made and the conversations we've shared with all of you are worth their weight in gold.