Being a member of Postcrossing, is a wonderful way to meet and greet other postcard collectors (or accumulators, as some would say). The project is quickly coming on 20 million post cards sent and received. I have just passed 300 cards sent and 300 received.

This latest card was sent by Esjr (Ester in English), from Holland just outside of Rotterdam. This image of a red postal collection box is striking. I like it because it draws attention to a mundane thing, something we might see each day but think nothing of. How many things do we "see" and not really see?

Esjr is a postwomen so she is very familiar with these red boxes. She also told me she has three children and loves to ride her motorcycle. Her profile picture, a bit too dark for much detail, shows her straddling her motorcycle in a knee-length black coat. Her legs are bare and her toes pointed to reach the ground.

Seeing great post card images and reading but a few details about the people who send them sometimes will inspire me to write a poem as I did here.

RED MAILBOX

Against the hardness of bricks, this red box
stands out, upright, a cast iron solider at attention,
ready to receive orders, even desperate news.
I think of you on your rounds, approaching each box,
kneeling on one knee, catching the eye of a male
passing by, as you unlock the rib plate,
scooping out all the words from its world
and stacking them just so into your shoulder bag.
Re-securing the box for the millionth time,
you stride to the curb, straddle your bike,
give it one hard kick and with a puff of blue exhaust,
you speed away, taking with you some of the vital
and frail news from this hard, hard world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can find more of my poems at my poetry blog, Fresh Bean Sprouts.

Sending and receiving postcards and poems

Postcard published by Arctic Circle Enterprises, Anchorage, Alaska

It occurred to me today that my blog (besides being neglected too often) only exhibits postcards that I am adding to my collection. That is only half the story. Any collector also sends out as many or more postcards as they receive. Here is a recap of today's activities.

To England and Beyond
Today I sent out seven postcards (England, Iowa, Finland, Washington,Canada, P.R. China, Poland). The beautiful image above was sent to Victoria, a collector in Cornwall, England. The interesting connection to Victoria was that she describes herself as a "young mum." That does not mean she tends to be quiet. It is an affectionate name for a mother. I told her that Mum was the name I called my grandmother. Do you think I have any English in my background?

Unfortunate Title
This postcard I have sent to collectors before. It is often favored by them. I think its a beautiful representation of the varied faces of native culture in Alaska. Yet I would like to see a revised title. I may be reading this a bit too close but I think the title is unfortunate and awkward. A better title would be Native People in Alaska. I know it was not intended but the current title suggests native people belong to the state. This is not true politically or humanely. 

Postcard Poetry
All of the postcards going out today were to collectors from the Postcrossing: the Postcard Crossing Project, save one. This month I am part of the August Postcard Poetry Fest. The fest challenges poets to write an impromptu poem each day and send it to a poet on the list. There are five groups of 33 poets who will send 31 poems each. If everyone sends all their poems out there would be 5,115 new poems sent out into the world. That's a lot of poems. To date, I've sent seven poems. This is a real challenge for me. I prefer to set first-draft poems aside for a time and revise several times before calling it a poem. You can see some of my poems, drafts and finished products, here.

Never Too Young For Postcards

I guess you are never too young to enjoy the wide world of postcards. Today's mail brought two wonderful postcards from members of the Postcrossing Project. The one above (Moi) is from 14-year-old Piia of Finland. If you think she is too young to collect international postcards take a look at the beautiful postcard, below, of Taroko National Park. It comes from Postcrosser Jerry of Taiwan, age two. The message on the reverse side said his mom helps him collect cards. You can see an adorable picture of Jerry here.

Indian Blanket

One of the wonderful things about postcards is that you open up the mailbox on a cold winter day and in an instant you are transported to another world. This is precisely what happened to me the other day when I received this colorful postcard from Amelia, via Postcrossing, the postcard crossing project. The Indian Blanket is the state wild flower of Oklahoma. I remember seeing them growing wild all over that state years ago on a summer cross country trip. This postcard also reminded me that in a few months the fields of Alaska will be blanketed with the bright purple blossoms of the fireweed. It forms a colorfully rich contrast to the snow capped mountains all over the state (as in this picture). And when the fireweed is up it is usually hot and dry and the daylight is 20-plus hours long.

Wild Music

This untitled photo postcard taken by an unknown photographer will definitely go into the mystery category. It is one of over three million postcards sent through the Postcrossing Project. Go here to find out about the project.

This whimsical postcard image came from postcrosser ananaks, a graduate student from Russian studing biology in the U.S. Could we give it a title? What does this image mean to you? Perhaps: play your music in the wild, or maybe, bring the wild into your music. In either case, just from the selection of instruments, these musicians are headed for an adventure in the proverbial musical pass just ahead of them. Thanks, Anastasia for the great card and welcome to The States.