Dirty Little Secret

Okay - so maybe not so secret. And definitely not dirty, unless you are involved in the Adult rings. But my private addiction is POSTALS! Yup - that's right folks, I'm addicted to my mailbox. And I'm addicted to bubble mailers and clear packing tape and all of those wonderful rubber stamps that come to visit me while I'm stuck behind mountains of white stuff! I love getting them. I love making them. I love sending them off so someone else can get some good mail. No bills attached, just pure inky goodness.

What's my favorite part of a postal? Hmmm, every little inch of them. The stamps, the colors, the logbooks, the twisted containers, the twisted stories behind the images, the QUISPS, the whole darn thing! And the nice thing about them - they do not have to conform to a location other than what's in the creators mind. I've belonged to many. I've logged in many. I've sent out many. I've seen all forms. Yup - I love them all. Truly addicted to my mailbox. So much so - my parents got me a bigger mailbox as my Christmas present!

So what have I seen? My very first postal ring was SHH's snowflake ring. I had no carving capabilities, but I loved to scrapbook. So - with that ring, my logbook was definitely much better than my stamp! But everyone has to have a first. After that I quickly jumped on the postal bandwagon. I joined rings and jumped on any tracker single that was launched! And along the way what did I collect? Just images you might think. But there was oh, so much more. I collected friends. Priceless virtual relationships that blossomed and developed through my mailbox and my computer logbook.

Then not only did these relationships develope along with my carving abilities, but so did my friendships. Because of a mutual postal addiction, Teacup and I became much better friends. A postal friendship that started as a desire to cut out the postal middle man and save some money in just dropping and picking up postals at Teacup's house quickly turned into a partnership for an event and then a whole series of traditional postal adventures.

Postal letterboxing is definitely not for everyone. Some folks just do not get the addiction. That's fine. But for those of us that are terminally stuck behind an endless blanket of snow, yet we still seek the desire to get inky, postals ebb the drought just a bit. And like I said - I've gained so much insight through postals that I never would have by just boxing locally.

I learned and developed a new skill through postals. I can't even begin to tell you what those early ring players had to suffer through when getting one of my images! Horrible! But to make a little bit of amends, my logbooks always tried to pick up where the rubber fell short. Of course I look at some of those logbooks now and wonder what I was smoking! I've made a building, a jewelry box, a dish, and numerous other shapes. I've sent out logbooks that were in photo albums and in maps. I've sent out containers that were shoes, water bottles and a buoy. My images have improved slightly, and for the most part do not stretch the limits on size anymore. The Backyardigans ring by far was the largest image I ever sent out!

I've dabbled in other aspects of boxing. Traditional boxing is always wonderful, but I do not like going solo. And Teacup works alternate weekends. So I have to fill the voids somehow. I was saddened when many of my postal friends went off to play in the land of LTCs. So I thought - if they are all going over there, I guess I'll follow them. So I tried. Honest I did. I joined swaps. Hosted a few of my own. Jumped in and helped fill swaps that were lacking people. Thought I was being creative. When all I felt was I was being striped of my creativity en mass. I hereby admit - I do not like making LTCs. I do not like swaps. I do not like waiting for swaps to get sorted out and mailed back to me. And most of all - I HATE LOGGING LTCs. I have yet to log in the Periodic Table of Elements. I may never do it.

So I did my LTC time and then bailed out and am happily back in the land of postals. I miss many of those wonderful friends i used to banter with because of the numerous rings/singles we shared. SHH, Shoafsters, Sweet and Sassy, Sweet and Sour, Batty Girl, Castles16, Nitrocat and so many more. All of these incredible artists have abandoned me for the land of the LTCs. But in their void, I have added new friends. S and D, bridgetscouting, alittlebitoff, terrio, nannipapawto4, cookie cutter and many others have picked up and started to enjoy this hobby as much as I do.

And to make things balanced, I have those friends that bridge the worlds between postals and LTCs and let me peek into their work every now and then. Penguin Patrol, Little Monkey, Hales Angel and others. Little Monkey lets me mentor newbie rings, and its always nice when I see one of the old school jump back into the postal world to send off one of their treasures for this new flock of postal followers to enjoy.

But back to the postals, as of today I have launched over 200 postals and have over 1200 postal finds. I am currently hosting a Deepest Reflection ring and am a member of a Naked ring and the Urban Legends ring. The diversity of these boxes are incredible. In one day I can hear of my buoy washing up in someones mailbox, miles from the ocean. I can read of a boxer's incredible self discovery in another and in the third have an extra-terrestrial experience about Area 51. I've seen altered books that are totally pieces of art and happily include rubber stamps. I've seen movies and heard music from areas I never would have heard of because of rings. I have 2 3-ring binders full of colorful images. Some whimsical, some serious. Some black and white while others are splashed with a rainbow of colors.

People have shared secrets with me about themselves. Have shown me new ways to carve, new ways to make logbooks and new ways to transfer images into works of art. People in this community have given me a place to escape to. A place to share with others things even my own family doesn't know. A place to release a creative energy that can get trapped in the long winter months buried in the depths of winters snow. For me - postals is a year long event. While the height of the adventure for me is the darkest months of winter, I dally year round. My hopes is that any postal I send forward can be a cathartic exercise for those picking up their mail on the opposite end.

I'm getting ready to launch my 200th postal. One which will reflect, one that will share what I love most about postals. Trying to pare it down to bare bones will be hard. I want to put everything I love the most into it. But I don't think anyone would be able to pay the postage if I did that. So I'm still developing it. It will have an image. It will have a logbook. It will have music. And it will have snipets of me. So to my postal friends, I thank you. From the bottom of my soul I cannot even begin to let all of you know how you have helped to shape my life. Give me a center that helps to keep me balanced and sane.

So while postals may be my dirty little secret, they are one I'm happy to share with as many people who will let me into their mailboxes. Because one thing I know for sure, I love postals. And I will continue to make them. The silly ones, the serious ones, the naked ones and the ones that dig down into the inner depths of my soul! And I'm so happy to have old and new friends along for the ride. And just remember - if its heading my way, Teacup sits in the car with me. Because all aspects of boxing should be shared with a friend! And Teacup is a great one to share both postal boxing and traditional boxing. Because through both of these - I can managed to con her into helping out with events : )