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.

Post Office

I visited the postal store in the big, big post office on 34th Street today, and I admit it wasn't that bad.

"I'd like to see your first-class stamps please. Whatever you have, I'd like to see," I said to the clerk after she finished her conversation with another clerk.

"We don't have all of them," she told me.

"Okay. Show me what you have."

"Which ones?"

"Whatever you have. Show me whatever you have."

"We don't have the Chinese New Year stamps."

"Okay, show me what you do have."

"We only have the stamps with the check mark."

"Check mark?"

"The poster. There are check marks on the poster. That's all we got."

"Poster? What poster?" I asked and looked around.

The clerk sighed, rolled her eyes, and pointed to the poster taped to the wall on the other side of the room.

"Great. Show me the check-marked stamps."

"Which ones? There are four check marks."

"Then show me those four."

"You want to see whatever we have?"

"Yes," I said, "I want to see whatever you have."

"All four?"

"Yes, all four."

She made a big effort out of pulling out four sheets of stamps from the cart next to her and put them on the counter in a display of fatigue.

I bought all of them and left. On my way out, I bought some forever stamps at the self-service machine.

I got a bunch of stamps today, and I am in the mood to mail a letter.

Stamps

The new stamps are here! The new stamps are here!

Rothko has always been a favorite of mine among the abstract expressionists, but I have to admit I like the Gottlieb in this group the best (second from right on the bottom).

I pre-ordered these stamps awhile ago on the postal service website and they arrived in my mailbox today. Hooray!

Stamps

The postal service website is crazy. Sometimes I order stamps online rather than going to my local post office, The Worst Post Office Ever. (That's not the official name of the post office, just the neighborhood nickname). The website requires an account name and password. To buy stamps? I can never remember my account name and go through the process of registering every time I want to buy postage online. It's goofy.

But a couple of sheets of colorful Kelp Forest stamps arrived in my mailbox today so I'm happy. I'm expecting the new Abstract Expressionists stamps to arrive soon, and I bet those stamps will really put me in the mood to mail something.

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.

Mail Received

A business correspondence received with five different types of stamps. How did she know I would like all those stamps? Well, she didn't know, and she also had no idea that I get a kick out of people writing New York City instead of plain New York on the envelope. Simply pleasures like this keep me smiling throughout a run-of-the-mill day like today.