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.

FOOD CACHE IN ALASKA

Food storage is important if you want to eat after the growing season ends. Most people in the developed world have freezers and refrigerators. Their food is kept for them in warehouses until they do their weekly shopping. In less developed areas, like bush Alaska, people must store their own food and so they rely on a food cache.
These are often built on stilts and some sport sod roofs which help keep them cool in the shoulder months before and after winter. The stilts make these structures more difficult for bears to get at the doors. For the most part the cache is used to store caribou or moose meat over the long winter months.
This post card image of a cache near a body of water is not specifically identified. The photo was taken by Mel Anderson for Alaska Imp Prints, which does not have a web presence. It was distributed by J&H Sales of Anchorage. My best guess is this card was produced in the 1970-80s.

FORD FUTURA: Car that didn't make the future

Ideas About The Future Are Always Out There
This photo postcard makes me think how goofy all ideas about the future really are.
Of course we don't know what the future will look or feel like because our ideas are, as always, locked in the assumptions of the present. The future tends to pass us by, especially our technology. Perhaps if we could time travel we might be able to go forward into time and see the future but then our own travel to the future would alter the past and the future simultaneously, so that might preclude us from knowing the future especially if everyone wanted to travel to see it and of course they would. So time travel might not work as a way of smoothing out the journey.
Then too, there is the issue of acceleration. The speed of change is increasing exponentially. How can anyone keep up with that? No one has a clue of what might happen?  In a way, we're all dumb animals running into the street without the slightest idea that a car could come along, strike and kill us. We learn very slowly. I suppose you could say this fatal ignorance gives life its poignancy.
End of pondering our species limited knowledge. Now the short history of the postcard car.
This was Ford Motor Company's car of the future. Somehow the future arrived and passed this winged monstrosity behind. The car here looked a little like an Edsel on steroids, another Ford dinosaur. They called the car the Futura, not to be mistaken for the Ford Futura produced for the Australian market between 1962 and 2008. That car was a BF Series Ford Falcon, a much smaller car that morphed into the current Ford Fusion. The model shown here looks like what an engineer in the 1960's would think the future would look like -- sharp lines, wings, wrap-around chrome and big -- gas guzzling behemoth. It never made production, fortunately.

~~~~~

Thanks Rick B. for the great postcard. Yes, I think it will be a "smash hit."

Poet T.S. Eliot said, April is the cruelest month. In Alaska, August is the wettest month. Along with the damp weather comes cooler temps and leaves turning color. My birch trees are starting to show a hint of yellow. Before you know it we'll be getting out the boots and parkas.
The tourist shops sales are beginning to rev up all over Alaska. Now is the time for deals. I bought a few wooden postcards showing Humpback Whales on sale last year at this time. The ink on wood (balsam, most likely) softens the image and gives it almost an airbrush look. The wood is odorless, unlike the birch and cedar postcards in my collection.
The "card" was produced by National Novelty Products, Inc,. U.S.A. in Los Angeles. They appear to be out of business. The card mails with a first-class stamp.

POETRY IN THE PARK

What Do You Call A Poet?

Julie Jordan Scott, self-described storyteller, poet, performer, mommy and lover of life, sent this fabulous homemade postcard. The photo was taken at a park near her home. She took the photo and placed some backing on it and sent it along with interesting comments. Julie loves to write -- a blogger, a life coach, a teacher, a speaker, and an author of many poems. I like to visit her blog, Julie Unplugged, which contains wonderfully uplifting stories and ruminations from her life of writing. Her casual intelligent writing style is refreshing. I have nothing but admiration for brave souls like Julie who chuck the corporate drumbeat and set out on their own to create a meaningful life.

The purple placard in this photo postcard gives synonyms for the word poet (bard, minstrel, rimer, rimester, versifer, troubadour, singer, minnesinger), and some definitions.  The spelling of some of these terms is archaic -- rimester today is spelled rhymester and rimer is a tool for shaping the rimes of a ladder -- but it's a noble idea that a municipality has attempted to elevate the level of discussion on what constitutes poetry. I think it a good accessible poem of a contemporary poet like Ted Kooser or Billy Collins would have given the public a better idea of what a delight a good poem can be.

A Month of Letters

Today A Month of Letters Challenge began. If you hurry you can still join. Mary Robinette Kowa, an award winning author and puppeteer, is the architect for this challenge to send a piece of mail, anything really, to some one during the month of February.

Mary, like us postcard hounds, loves to send and receive snail mail, especially hand-written, that reminds us that someone thought of us and cares enough to take the time to send a note -- be it a postcard, letter, a swath of fabric or surprise package. Introducing her challenge, Kowa said, "I find that I slow down and write differently than I do with an email. Email is all about the now. Letters are different, because whatever I write needs to be something that will be relevant a week later..."

She's spot on. Our writing changes depending on the medium we are using. Content follows form. When I sent my first "letter," a postcard, I ended up writing an eight-line, rhymed poem based on the postcard's image contrasting the climate of the addressee. It was creative fun. 

So Are You Ready For A Challenge? Here's how Mary set it up: 

 "In the month of February, mail at least one item through the post every day it runs. Write a postcard, a letter, send a picture, or a cutting from a newspaper, or a fabric swatch
Write back to everyone who writes to you. This can count as one of your mailed items.

All you are committing to is to mail 23 items. Why 23? There are four Sundays and one US holiday. In fact, you might send more than 23 items." 

You can find out a lot more about the challenge and register for it at Mary's site here. At the site you will find all kinds of great ways to interact with other letter writers in the challenge. She even has badges like the one above and other achievement badges you can download to your blog or web site to show your are a man or women of letters.

New US Postal Service Rates

The  price of US stamps went up January 27th so don't forget if you are mailing from the US you'll need a little more postage. This is the third increase for postcard postage in less than two years. I'm glad I stocked up on Forever stamps back in April of 2011. Back then postcards were only $0.28. I'm still buying extra one, two and three cent stamps on the specialty postcard stamps from that time.

The frequent rate increases have become a regular small hassle. I do wonder when the US Postal Service (USPS) will, if ever, get out of hot financial water. The quasi-governmental agency did better with packages in 2012 but still sees a  steady decline in first-class mail. Officials are quick to point out that pressures such as less mail in the electronic age, higher fuel and labor cost negate the possibility of even modest gains.  For more on that click here. 

Here are the new rates:

Postcards go up one cent from $0.32 to $0.33.

First Class letters also increase one cent from $0.45 to $0.46.

Most significant, International-bound postcards are now $1.10.

Remember when these were $0.98?

Trabants Still Rolling

Cut away view of the Trabant
a car produced in the former German Democratic Republic

Here again I'm writing about cars.
This postcard was sent via Postcrossing Project  by Laura from Germany. She affectionately called the Trabant a "Trabi." These much-loved cars were the "cars of the masses" in The German Democratic Republic (Soviet controlled East Germany) from 1957-1991, and remains the car of choice for many Europeans.
I road in one while in Bulgaria years ago. Peter, the driver we hired swore by them. He drove it on the streets and country roads like a racer in the final laps of a Formula One race.
I found the tiny car interesting and could imagine that, like England's Mini Cooper, it had advantages. For it's time, the Trabant's 1043 cc engine was easy on the gas, 34 mpg. Like the MG Midget I once owned, it was very quick off the line and very nimble to steer -- an advantage in congested cities.
I suppose the car is remembered fondly by some because it represents a bygone era. It offered simple, bare-bones economy. If you can change a spark plug and air filter you can maintain this little car.
Despite its ultra compact size our Trabi in Bulgaria held three suit cases in the trunk along with the spare. Perhaps its greatest selling point is that following the reunification of the two Germanys you could buy one for next to nothing.
Peter also told me he liked the Trabant because it sported a paper body and he said these were flexible and held up better in light collisions. The car wasn't exactly made of paper. The body was made of recycled cotton and sometimes paper wastes with a phenol resin. The resulting product was a plastic called Duroplast. The body consisted of Duroplast panels overlaid on a steel frame. The Trabi does have the distinction of being the first car body made from recycled material.
On the down side, the beloved Trabi being a two-stroke without an oil injection system required adding oil to the gas at each fuel stop. Refueling consisted of opening the hood to a small tank located  over the engine. The location was necessitated because the car lacked a fuel pump so the fuel system was gravity fed. Another drawback was the two-stroke smoked considerably and produced noxious exhaust. There are some later model Trabis made with a four-stroke engines that run considerably cleaner.
Today the Trabi still has a loyal following. You can still buy them from Trabi dealers here in the US, Europe, England and Canada. (Scroll down the Canada link and click on the picture of the motor to hear the engine.) If you're in Krakow, Poland you may want to hire Crazy Guides tour company. They will show you the city in a brightly painted Trabant.
In 2009, an updated Trabant nT model was shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show. This model sported an environmentally friendly  45kW synchronous motor with a range of 100 miles. Price tag is projected at $29,000 US. This model isn't in production yet, so if you're interested in a Trabi you can still pick up a used one dirt cheap.

Let me know if you've spotted a Trabant lately?

The MG Midget: Small, Sporty and Nimble

My friend Rick recently sent me several advertising postcards like this one of various MG automobiles. He remembered that I owned one once and of the cards he sent this one most closely resembled the car I drove in the mid 1970's. Mine was orange and was a great car because at the time it got an unheard of fuel economy. I loved my MG despite the fact it was continually going out of tune. It handled corners like a pouncing cat. I liked that it was so different than any car on the road and that people at stop lights would look down from their enormous American made autos -- in what I call the Big Steel Era -- and point and laugh. Many times in the summer with their windows rolled down I would hear, "Is that a real car?" I had a number of pat answers ready. One was, "Why no, it's a toy but I couldn't part with it since childhood." Another was, "Absolutely, it's the car of the future." I like to think I was ahead of my time driving my MG Midget. Though the cars were taken out of  production in 1979, they did point to an era of smaller and more economical cars that many of us Americans began to buy in the latter half of the 20th-century.  

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.

Magical Places and Marvelous Creatures

Sometimes a postcard message is as much inspired by the image on the postcard as a message to another person. I sent this postcard and message below some time in April of 2009 from my home in Fairbanks, Alaska, to Suyhou City, P.R. China. Jinlin was the user name (no longer used) of a postcarder acquaintance met through Postcrossing, an online international postcard exchange project. At 150 words, this was a relatively long message for the reverse half-side of this 4 by 6 inch postcard. A typical postcard message In English runs less than 100 words. I had to use my fountain pen with a fine nib to squeeze all the words in. I consider my message to Jinlin an ekphrasis -- a fancy Greek word that means art inspired by art, typically poems (in this case a prose-poem) based on a work of visual art.  

Sandhill Crane in flight. Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge,

Fairbanks, Alaska. Photo by Ted Swem. Alaska Bird Observatory:

 www.alaskabird.org.

To Jinlin in Suzhou,
Suyhou City must be incredible. How lucky for us who live in magical places. I imagine floating the canals, wandering the expansive gardens, strolling past the new museum, pondering how much blood and sweat civilization requires to flower. I hope you enjoy this Sandhill Crane postcard. After the long, bleak and bitter cold days of winter, our heads tilt and ears open as flowers for the sun hungry for spring light. These magnificent birds, with their sweeping wing span and prehistoric call --- more a guttural crank ---, ride on lofty winds, some, all the way from Mexico. They give us pause to ponder what is elemental, what is winged, what is astonishing, what is simultaneously primitive and modern yet natural and supernatural in every creature.
I pray many blessings for you and your young son, Kris

Can postcards save our national parks?

The Eldridge Glacier in Denali National Park
Alaska Color Card Company, Anchorage, AK

Postcards are helping save our national parks.

That’s the opinion of a University of Alaska professor. Though I’m skeptical of the claim, the idea may sit well with some postcard collectors, especially those who specialize in national park postcards. They can’t help but be happy with this news. A few will be licking their chops because news like this stands a fair chance of increasing the value of their postcard collections, both contemporary and vintage.

Who wouldn’t want to buy a postcard that would save the national parks? Of course, postcards or curios of any kind are not going to save the parks because our parks don’t need saving. They are protected by law and have a rather high regard by the American people and policy makers. 

According to Dr. Ken Barrick , associate professor of geography, souvenirs bought at and around national parks whether buttons, beads, earrings or postcards are a way of taking home a piece of the park without taking home an actual piece of the park. “Souvenirs prevent people from collecting natural objects such as feathers and rocks,” he was quoted in an article by Johanna Love, published this week the Jackson Hole News & Guide and syndicated today in my home town newspaper, The Fairbank News-Miner. He’s right on the money here.

Barrick other idea is that keepsakes like postcards, which people save into old age, somehow help translate into support for the parks. This sounds a little too good to be true to me. I suspect that what he said was more nuanced. It’s more likely that a visitor’s experience at a park, not the memento, does the heavy lifting in terms of support and advocacy and the mementos remind us of that experience.

I do think Barrick is on to something. We do tend to keep souvenirs and recall past experiences, especially pleasant ones, through them. This is what imbues them with value for us. Such mementos have an impact on reminding us of the grandness and splendor of a particular park and our visit there. I simply doubt that these collectibles are the sole triggers by which we become passionate about the mission of the park service. It is rather the enriching experiences in the wilderness inside the park which embolden us to speak well of a particular park and the park service in general.

I don’t think that the postcards of the parks I accumulated motivate me to support the parks. My visits to Yosemite, Sequoia, Yellowstone, Kenai Fiords, Isle Royal and Denali have convinced me that these landscapes and ecosystems are valuable and are worth persevering for future generations. The postcards I have of these marvelous places are valuable to me because they remind me of these marvelous places and in some cases how that experience changed me. 

As a collector, postcards must stand on their own. They must have a history themselves. They were commissioned by a certain publisher or patron. They are an example of a certain artist or illustrators work. They are limited because most of the cards were destroyed in a warehouse fire prior to distribution. All these circumstances and a multitude of others influence value.

Hype also influences value. A story like this one can become, and I suspect it will, a factor that can influence value in a genre of postcards. Barrik is a collector of 400 images of photo chrome lithograph prints produced from 1898 to 1906 by the Detroit Photographic Company, including the 65 of Yellowstone. I’d love to see those prints and hear his talk today, 6:30 p.m., at the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center in Moose, Wyoming. Maybe if we're lucky, Barrik will repeat it here in Fairbanks in the near future. I’d really like to know how postcards will save our National Parks. 

1953 Indinapolis 500 Pace Car

This postcard came today from my friend Rick in Michigan. He knows I like classic cars and the Indianapolis 500 race and history.

The postcard image is the 1953 Ford Crestline Sunliner. The car was selected as the pace car for that year's Indianapolis 500 mile race. The car was designed to commerate the 50th anniversity of the Ford Motor Company and sported a powerful 110 horsepower flathead V8 engine. These cars, now classics, are highly prized with car collectors.The car pictured here is a replica of the pace car that belongs to the Dells Auto Museum, in Dells, Wisconsin.


Each year car companies vie for selection of leading the 33-car field of the famous 500 mile race. For nine of the last 20 years the Chevorlet Corvette has won the distinction of leading the Indianapolis race cars on the parade and pace laps.There is good reason for this. The pace car must pace the cars for one lap at 70 mph and then up to 120 mph before entering the final turn before the flying start.


This year the 638 horsepower Corvette C6 ZR1 will lead the field of race cars to the starting line.Many people have complained that the stock Corvette's engine produces more horsepower than the race cars. While that is true, the Corvette isn't capable of circling the track at an average speed of 225-plus mph. 


You can get a feeling for the excitement of the flying start by watching some homemade videos posted on my blog here.


The race will be run this year on Sunday, May 27, at 12 p.m. Television coverage will begin at 11 a.m. on American Broadcasting Company, ABC, stations.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway: 100+ years

A bird's-eye view of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

This postcard shows the indomitable Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as seen from the air looking south. The 559 acre facility was opened in 1909 for balloon, motorcycle and auto racing. The first 500 mile race was held in 1911.

Last year the speedway celebrated the 100th anniversary of the speedway. This year race, scheduled for Sunday, May 27, 2012, will be the 96th running of the race. It closed only during World War II, 1942-1945.

I date this photo postcard sometime after 1957 when a new control tower was built but before grandstands in the fourth turn at the southwest end were built. Today, yet another control tower is in place.

This postcard, along with several others, was purchased by me at the track during the 1964 race. I was 11 at the time and loved aerial views. Looking at the picture postcard now, I see it's publisher, the speedway, could have benefited from some cropping, flipping, and editing. Though the intent was to show the size of the speedway complex, a two and a half mile rectangular course, complete with 18 hole golf course inside and outside the race track, many details are out of focus.

In the 100-plus years of the speedways have seen many firsts. One of the novel changes to the usual racing milieu was the flying start. Instead of the cars lined up on the track at the starting, as in Formula 1 races of today, the start of the Indianapolis begins when the starter waves the green flag as the cars approach the starting line. The cars are arranged in 11 rows with three cars in each row. Most automobile races begin with cars two abreast. The effect of 33 cars exceeding 200 mph is both frightening and awe inspiring.

You can find four homemade videos of the Indianapolis 500 flying start below. The video gives you but a hint of the speed, the noise and the excitement of the flying start.

Find other Indianapolis Speedway postcards from my collection here.

Racing Past The Starting Line

Indianapolis 500-Mile Race Sweepstakes start, circa 1950

I wanted a postcard to coincide with the official opening of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's month of May activities leading up to the big race, Sunday, 27 May, 2012. I found this one in my limited Indianapolis collection. It is in poor condition but it remains a good example of a lithographed card done by a photo-chrome process. It shows the start of a race in the late 40s, early 50s. The pagoda on the infield was replaced in 1957. If you compare this image with the race photo postcard of the 1965 race I posted here, you will see many changes to the speedway grandstands and pit layout.

The speedway was built in 1909 and after some initial disastrous races, claiming the lives of a driver, two mechanics and a spectators, the track was paved with some 3.2 million bricks. The first 500-mile race was held on May 30, 1911. It was won by Ray Harroun at the then astonishing average speed of 74.602 mph. It is claimed that this 500-mile race was the first to use a pace car. Perhaps more significantly, Harroun's  Marmon "Wasp" racecar sported a rear-view mirror, the first occasion of its use in a motor car.

See a picture of Harroun's racer here and a picture of a car from last year's race here. If you are a real Indy aficianodo, here is a picture postcard of the 1963 winning car driven by Parnelli Jones.

If you can pinpoint the exact year of the race on this postcard, please let me know. Leave a comment below.

Michigan Has Great Beaches

Another postcard from the state of my birth, Michigan. 

Oh, how I miss the hot sand burning the bottoms of my feet on a sultry summer day. That could be me, the young man with the yellow inflatable raft in the center of the picture, walking behind the two women (perhaps his mother and her friend or an aunt). From the trees we can tell this was a windy day. I can remember many such days returning home sun burnt and happily wiping the sand from the corner of my eyes.

This postcard was sent by my high school buddy, Rick, from Wayne, Michigan. He wrote on the back: 

This is pure Michigan...

but not sure of the decade...

maybe the 1960's

I agree this is pure Michigan and it is most likely the 1960s. There is a possibility this card was published earlier on based on the swimwear. The ladies in the foreground and those I can make out with my magnifying glass in the background are wearing one-piece bathing suits. There is no sign of the bikini which began to appear in America following World War II, after 1945. My best guess would be that this was late 50s early 60s because growing up in the 60s I do not recall seeing bikinis on Michigan beaches until the late 60s, early 70s. I was a very observant of such things as a teenager.

The inscription on the back of the postcard tells us we will enjoy the swimming, picnicking, hiking and camping at Warren Dunes State Park.Today is is a popular spot for hang gliders. 

Note: the black spiral, top center, is not a kite but an ink smudge, courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service machines. So too is the dark haze-like spot, center middle, on the water and sky.  I attempted to remove these marks with alcohol to no avail.

Do you have a favorite beach you recall from childhood? What made it memorable?

Let me know. Leave a comment below.   

Hawaiian postcard cornucopia

Our good friends, the Gebauer family just returned from Kauai bearing gifts. The last trip they brought me a wonderful t-shirt imprinted with the Postcard Cafe, a well-know vegetarian eatery on the island. This time I was the grateful recipient of a wooden postcard picturing a surfer just rising onto his board on a giant wave and a beautiful packet of postcards (left).The packet contains some wonderful classic-style Hawaiian tourist postcards.

The packet reads, "Designed in Hawaii and Printed with "Ecologically Sound Inks on 100% Chlorine Free Paper from Sustainable Forests." That's a grammarian's nightmare of capital letters but I'm sure it covers all the politically correct bases so as not to offend the Eco-tourist constituency. These earth friendly cards are available from Islandartstore.com. 

The Hawaiian islands trade in on the abundance of tourists that visit the islands each year. Americans from the mainland (a odd term when you think of this global village) make up 80% of the tourist traffic. Hawaii, the 50th state admitted to the U.S., is a slice of  paradise with miles of pristine beaches, active volcanoes and tropical rain forests.
As if their postcards and pictures on Facebook were not enough, each time our good friends return from the islands their enthusiasm seems not only boundless but infectious. We are now officially planning a trip to the islands in the near future. Aloha.

Chugging into the future

For the last postcard of 2011, I chose (no surprise) a train. To me there is nothing more symbolic of moving into the future than a train chugging along, especially trains powered by a steam locomotive.

This postcard came from friends and neighbors who just returned from the lower 48 (U.S.) states. I collect train postcards and they seem to find the best cards for me.

This card is post dated 1928 and shows the Royal Gorge, Colorado. The gorge's rock walls are some 2,500 feet and not nearly as wide, so the effect of being in the gorge is a little claustrophobic to some.

Traveling the gorge by train is fairly high on my bucket list.

Coach, "You gotta put me in!"

This guy is the personification of the kid who just wants to get in the game. This postcard came from a humorous dog-themed calendar, complete with removable postcards. I'm sending this card along with some other gifts to a friend who I think will appreciate the gun-hoe attitude.


I also like this card because the ready to play dog dons the helmet of the Green Bay Packers. The packers are my second favorite professional football team. I still like the underdog Detroit Lions because, well, I grew up outside Detroit and went to see them play when I was a very young boy. I remember also the Thanksgiving holiday tradition of Detroit playing the Packers and losing nearly every year.


I like that the "Pack" are doing well and continue to beat all the odds with their community-owned  franchise. It's evidence to me that  people-owned businesses are capable of beating the odds and being successful rather than all the other big business team franchises. No other team has won as many championships and the team has four Super Bowl victories. If not the Lions, let it be the Pack.

Yippie, share the serendipidy

After six out of seven days of record lows (-35 to -41), the air warmed to -18 today. I thought this post card expressed my elation. It felt nice to walk outside again. Instead of the smoggy smell of city air under a high pressure inversion, walking outside today you could smell clean winter air again. It reminded me to of winters in my home state of Michigan which seem tame and mild compared to the  brutal cold and dark of Interior Alaska.

The postcard above advertises the Share Experience Photo Contest sponsored by the National Park Foundation. For you shutter bugs who want to enter the contest follow this link. Photographers are to submit their favorite view from the nation's public lands.