It's About the Journey

When we first began letterboxing, this was absolutely true. We letterboxed for the places we got to go. As we have increased our F-count, there have been times when we set out to box with a numeric goal in mind. Today we are going to find x number of boxes and then our F count will be x! Often we are rewarded with a great journey in spite of ourselves. But the rushing around can be frustrating. Sometimes it causes us to miss out on really enjoying some of the places folks have put boxes at for us to enjoy.
This week, the girls and I had the joy of finding only 2 boxes on a day we had set out to find almost 15!! We headed to Fletcher Community Park (near Hendersonville, NC) to find these 2 boxes in what I thought would be a quick stop. The park was unassuming at first glance. There was a gravel path that seemed to border it. This path followed a river. We knew we needed to be on it in order to find the boxes. So we set out on our quick journey.
The quick journey ended up being a long and slow walk meandering quite a ways until we reached the second box. The girls and I began playing the 5 senses game.
We saw a flying fish, a rabbit running to the bushes, a chipmunk hopping across the path, a squirrel, some interesting birds, cornfields, flowers and butterflies riding the wind.
We heard the fish leap out of the river, the river, the rain, the birds, kids playing in the river, runners footsteps on the gravel and rustling in the bushes.
We smelled the bathrooms (yuck) and the rain.
We tasted the wild blackberries and the rain.
We felt the soft leaves of a lamb's ear plant, the warm summer rain on our faces and arms, the rusted metal frog we found on the bridge, and the itchy grass on the way to the cornfield where I made the girls pose for a picture.
The park had much more depth to it than I would've known about had we not had a letterbox to hunt for. Isn't that why the planter placed it there?
We didn't reach our goal of getting to 250 boxes that day. But I think the time we spent enjoying the search for those 2 boxes was worth leaving F-counts behind!