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On Friday, I received the email below from Postcrossing.com. How time flies...! ;)
Today’s the day — it’s your Postcrossingversary! You joined Postcrossing 13 years ago, and we’re floating by with balloons and fanfare to celebrate this magical occasion.
Did you realize you’ve been teleporting joy across the globe with tiny rectangles of paper for 4748 days now? You’re a special kind of postal magician ✨, and we hope you’ll keep enchanting mailboxes everywhere in the years to come!
Postally yours,
The Postcrossing team
I have cut down a lot on postcard-exchange with strangers all over the world via Postcrossing in later years, but am still keeping my account open by sending a card now and then. (And the system is self-regulating, so when one does not send, one also does not receive.) - When I first joined, back in 2013, I sent a lot, because the reason I started at all was that I had inherited a lot of still usable stamps from my dad that I didn't know what else to do with. (And I had no need of selling them for money.) I learned about Postcrossing from other bloggers (primarily from John Edwards, aka Scriptor Senex, who sadly passed away two years ago); and decided that the most fun I could have with those stamps would be to send them out into the world on postcards. After all, that was what they were made for... Looking back, I'm glad that I did it when I did; because since then, postage has just kept going up, up, up... Now being almost ridiculously expensive. With the old stamps of low value that I still have left now, I'd need so many for one single card abroad that it wouldn't even leave room to write the address!
Over the past 7 months I have sent very few postcards or letters at all, as after my famous fall back in October (famous in the sense that I keep mentioning it!), even the nearest postbox has seemed a long way away. That distance seems to have shrunk a bit again with the arrival of spring, though - so having received this reminder of my Postcrossing anniversary, I decided to "celebrate" by sending at least one card this weekend. One has no say in where to, but the address allotted to me this time turned out to be in Russia. Now I just hope that the post office staff over there are good at reading our Western alphabet, because my printer went on strike and I couldn't print out the Russian version. (As i often do when sending card to countries not primarily using the Latin script.)
Anyway, after a rainy weekend, the sun came out for a bit this afternoon and I was able to go out and post the card.
If you were ever a writer of letters and postcards - are you still keeping that up, or have you switched entirely to using the internet for written communication?
That sounds like fun. I mostly use the internet but I still use the post to send packages to family and friends, have a great week.
ReplyDeleteAmy, as "old habits die hard" I do still send postcards now and then to certain old friends and penpals for birthdays and Christmas. I rarely write long letters these days though - I guess my writing inspiration has gone into blogging instead!
DeleteThe trees are beautiful, and their billowy blooms match the clouds! I quit sending postcards because I just cannot find any anywhere! I had been reduced to buying bundles of them on Amazon.
ReplyDeleteGinny, it's not easy to find postcards here these days either - especially not local ones! I still have quite a stash of various cards from when I was more active in Postcrossing, though.
DeleteCongratulations on you Postcrossingversary! The apple blossom is beautiful, a real spring celebration.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pauline. I love the month of May for its constant "surprises" of one tree after another producing lovely blossoms...
DeleteI never travelled, but I did once send a few postcards to someone somewhere, I think to the US, and some to Germany. My mum sent back postcards when she travelled in Europe in the 80s-90s, I don't remember exactly when she went, but I got a postcard of the church I was christened in and the kids got postcards from Legoland.
ReplyDeleteRiver, I have been in a tradition of postcard-writing pretty much all my life, and not only related to travelling. Postcards are definitely becoming rare in later years though, with all the the possibilities now of instantly posting photos and messages over the internet instead...
DeleteHappy Postcrossing Anniversary, Monica! As a regular recipient of birthday and Christmas cards from you, I can confirm that you keep "enchanting mailboxes" - even just seeing the envelopes is great, as you always put on pretty stickers and special stamps. Thank you for all of that!
ReplyDeleteI mostly use emails and text messages to communicate with family and friends, but there are occasions when I like to write a letter or card, such as for birthdays (if I remember them in time) and Christmas. Also, there are a handful of people dear to me who neither own a computer nor a smartphone (my mother-in-law in England, for example), and while I try to speak to them on the phone every now and then, I know that they very much appreciate a letter or card, especially including photos, something I'll be doing with a selection of wedding pictures.
Thanks Meike - and in most communication it's the same for me, of course. It's mostly for Christmas and birthdays that I send cards by post now - and some friends have switched to just sending such greetings via Facebook/Messenger as well. (In which case I often tend to "follow suit" now, unless I know that they do still really appreciate getting a physical card.)
DeleteA lovely post. I clicked on the link to John Edwards and was rewarded by reading the post you did in tribute to him, showing some of the postcards he had sent to you. What a dear friend he was to so many! I truly miss him. I still send cards but post cards themselves are hard to find.
DeleteThanks Kay. Yes, I too miss John and often think of him. I agree postcards are getting harder to find but I still have quite stash of unwritten ones left from when I was more active in postcrossing.
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