Team MudCup's Muses

Okay - so I've written numerous times that there are a few places Tea and I love to box. Highest on our list is probably cemeteries. So naturally - on more than once occasion - cemeteries have been a talking point for a series of our own. This past Saturday Tea and I headed out early. Tea keeps telling me she doesn't like night boxing, maybe we should quantify that statement.

Tea does not like night boxing at night... she does on the other hand like night boxing in the wee small hours of the morning. So to bend a couple rules in order to accomplish this... shhh - don't tell. We started out at 5:30, our normal launching time. But now that the time change has taken place - it's still darn dark at 5:30am! And still dark at 6:00am - and cemeteries don't open up until 7am. So many things wrong with this picture already. Its also a bit of a challenge to read headstones in the wee small hours of daybreak!

BUT we had an agenda to stick to - of which included a series of boxes we needed to finish. So off we went. Well - it so happens that there was more than one Jesus watching over nuns, and low and behold, it also seemed that More than once Michael married Bridget with the same last name... so we walked the perimeter until the light came up... and later on with us. After fifteen minutes - being POSITIVE we were in the right location, we opted to head to the next box. Having found that one without nearly as much trouble - we oriented ourselves and backtracked... yup - there was Michael and Bridget in the opposite direction as their counterparts.

Now getting this box required one to either carry a long stick, or you had to be partially made of rubber to twist in and around to grab it. And since I know I have more water and other minerals in my make-up and am sadly lacking rubber parts, we were in need of a long stick. Tea pops her trunk so I can grab her handy dandy walking stick when I look in the bushes, and there for our boxing convenience - a perfectly hidden stick! Some boxers are so considerate!

So Michael and Bridget can go back to watching over the box while Jesus watches over a second cluster of nuns. We continued past Norton's treasure and was looking for an area that we both agree twists us up a bit. Seeking out one of God's Littlest Angels was our next task. We did not find the Angel we were seeking, but did find a plot full of little Angels guarded by numerous Catholic Fathers. It would seem in 1933, some major epidemic befell Portland's tiniest population, and many were interned together. It shows the humanity that the Catholic church has even for its smallest parishioners (all the headstones had first names), while also providing a brief look into a low period in our medical past. In the not so distant past. Knowing I would be taking my 4 year-old for his flu shot had me reflecting what these tiny little souls had suffered from? Too often it was something like the flu. Today, commonly passed off as a mere annoyance, back then it it claimed so many little souls.

But anyways, that is a sidebar... so we made it out of one cemetery and headed off to a different one. While the first cemetery had elaborate headstone, this one had very conservative stones. But they still were holding a box and we wold seek it out early in the day. Luckily by now we had daylight, so it made it easier... even though it wasn't any drier. Did I mention that we had already changed from very wet sneakers to our Bean boots? Well, we picked up this cemetery box prior to this cemetery officially opening as well. So we scooted out quick and headed off to our next quarry. We visited college and pulled stones out of a stone wall looking for the correct 'loose' stone before we found our box.

By this time we had broken enough rules that we felt we needed a bit of redemption... so we followed our clues into a Library. We found two of the three boxes in the Children's section (where I picked up my 600th find.) And then had an interesting chat about some visitors they had had a couple weeks earlier. Some woman dressed with a bumpy, veiny costume had strolled in looking for "The Manor." I chuckled knowing they were trying to get to Frightnight and I then proceeded to explain Oread's costume to the librarian who had sadly never heard Seven of Nine or Star Trek. How that is possible - I'm still unclear.

But we needed to continue on. We were on a time limit and we still had to log a few more miles and a couple more boxes before heading home again. We drove a bit and I managed to get us completely off-track, but we finally found the correct road, after driving across a narrow well-marked road. (Well marked with ATV trail markers anyways.) Passed I don't know how many abandoned trucks, some with orange clad men touting shotguns into the woods.

We visited an absolutely gorgeous out of the way Rest Area that closes for the winter. It was lovely. On the edge of rushing waters and it had well groomed picnic areas and walking paths. We also visited a pond to pick up some skates. Way to warm to go skating - but we couldn't find the companion canoe. How does one ice skate while canoeing?

So on our way home we ventured back to the idea of a series of boxes in local cemeteries. Tea has a book on the subject, (I told you we like cemeteries) so we can tie in some local history as well. A short day of boxing for us for sure... but in the seven hours we had - I managed to pick up another 14 boxes, almost 2 an hour... and we managed to brainstorm about a series. So those planning on coming to play next summer.... maybe we WILL have some new boxes to add to the clues when you come!