Lassie lives in Finland, Clarice lives in my Neighborhood

This stamp and postcard arrived last week from Finland.

Clarice hasn't set up her farm stand in the neighborhood yet. She's a musician who lives in the neighborhood, and she has a farm upstate. Every once in awhile, on no schedule that I've figured out, she sets up a tv tray on the sidewalk and sells fresh produce from her farm. We have some bigger farmers' markets around here, but I like Clarice's stand best. When she brings jars of homemade pickles, I know I live in heaven.

If the portrait on the postcard included a cello, and if the woman were 30 years older and wore a colorful skirt, floppy sunhat and a fanny pack around her waist, I would swear it was a painting of Clarice from my neighborhood.

From China

A postcard from China with charming stamps arrived the other day. The red pig diamond-shape stamp is my favorite.

The sender wrote on the card that Shanghai is the largest city in China. How embaressed I am that I didn't know that, and I would not have guessed it if someone asked me. Collecting postcards and stamps from around the world is bound to improve my education.

Plus, collecting mail is really fun.

Super Cool Stamp Saturday

I mentioned to a friend of mine that I'm disappointed I'll miss the upcoming stamp show in NYC. Next thing I knew, she sent me a bunch of stamps from Australia and a few from New Zealand. Thanks for the pile of postage, pal!

From Belarus

At a dinner party awhile ago, I sat next to an iconographer. He told me he paints religious icons in the Russian Orthodox style. Since that dinner, I run into him from time to time at various events. Whenever I see him, I say to myself, "There goes the icongrapher." It's not often you get to say that.

I received this icon postcard from Belarus. It's beautiful, isn't it?

Today I passed a tiny shop with a curious window display of figurines and candles. Turns out the store does business in books, firearms, and church supplies. They have an in-house psychic detective, too.

I peeked in the store, but it was dim and I didn't see a postcard display to lure me inside. I kept walking, though I wouldn't mind meeting the detective. I'd like to be able someday, when I see the detective in chance encounters, to say, "Well, there goes the psychic detective." But, I'll have to live my life without being able to say that.

Then again, what do I know? Maybe I will get to say it. I really can't predict, after all, whether I'll meet such a person or not in the future.

But, back to the mail. Here are the beautiful stamps on the back of this beautiful postcard.

Postcard

This postcard arrived in my mailbox from Finland. I'm liking the local handicrafts I see in the picture. I'm not sure what all the pieces are used for, but they look good. The stamp looks good, too.

Postcard

I always reserve the right to change my mind. Just yesterday I wrote on the blog that I'm not particulary fond of photographs of flowers. Today I received this postcard of a wildflower and I said to myself, "I am a fan of flower photographs after all!"

There is an abandoned, empty lot near my apartment. It's mainly bedrock outcropping, a big hunk of rock a few stories high on a lot between apartment buildings.

A few years ago a developer began the project of hammering away the rock, with the idea of building a new apartment building. I guess the guy ran out of money because one day the work and noise stopped. Year by year I have watched the weeds and wildflowers take over the lot.

The first plants that come into a distressed area are strong, and they help break up the soil so other plants can later take root. I like those pioneer plants and I admire their strength to heal a wounded piece of land.

I wonder if I had a wound, of the heart or body, who would be the first on the scene to help heal me and pave the way for growth and blooms. Someone with the strength of a wildflower, I suppose.

Oh, and before I forget, here are the stamps that came with this wildflower postcard.

Postcard

This postcard arrived in my mailbox today. Isn't it beautiful?

And here are the stamps that came on the postcard from Russia.

Stamp

This is the postage stamp on the postcard I received today. Lovely!

Foreign Postal Stamp

Tonight I asked the kids if they wanted to start collecting stamps. They said, "We already started a collection a long time ago," and they pulled out this envelope.

Needless to say, this stamp is from a few years ago.