Eclipse postmarks

For those of you in the USA or nearby regions - did you get to see the eclipse? It was amazing! I was up in Maine, far from the "path of totality," where we only got a 56% eclipse, but it was still fantastic. My favorite part was how it got cooler, the light got weird, and all the birds and crickets started singing their evening songs. Coooool!

And even cooler, from a postal perspective, you can still get a special eclipse postmark! Of course I learned about this from the fabulous Letter Writers Alliance. I haven't gotten one myself yet but I'm going to send off for one of these babies ASAP. Here are the details, via the LWA:

Total Eclipse Postmarks

Don't wait too long, though, it's only good for a few more weeks.

Happy 10th birthday, Postcrossing!

Happy birthday, Postcrossing! I've been an enthusiastic Postcrossing participant for more than 9 years now -- almost the entire time Postcrossing has existed, and certainly longer than I've had this blog -- and it's enriched my life in more ways than I can say. Postcrossing is now 10 years old and I invite you to explore their birthday celebration, and if you've never checked out Postcrossing before but you're curious, I highly encourage you to take this opportunity to do so.

The photo above shows a postcard from Germany I recently received via Postcrossing. I often show the postcard image or the postage stamp in a blog post, and in this case both of them were fairly pedestrian, but wow - what a NEAT postmark! It shows the Bremen Town Musicians, a fairy tale that has made the German town of Bremen famous. It's certainly what I think of when I think of Bremen, and as soon as I saw this postmark I recognized the icon and the story. This is just another fine example of all the wonderful surprises that Postcrossing brings.

Great stamps from China, with cat stamp

I received a wonderful thank-you letter from China recently, in response to US-3101799 that I sent on Postcrossing. The sender told me a truly beautiful pet story (in my Postcrossing profile, I ask for a beloved pet story if people are wondering what to write), which was heartwarming and sincere. He also sent me some great stickers from China, including some cute cat stickers like the one on the envlope -- and the postage stamps were a gift in and of themselves! Sometimes I get fairly boring stamps from China, but not this batch! Can you guess my favorite?



The cat!

Postal Service is Public Service

So sorry to have been absent, dear blog readers... as before, I've been writing letters and living life (and exploring my great new city of Washington, DC!). I've been meaning to blog, and today's Postcrossing haul convinced me I simply had to blog right away!

Above, I received IN-65026, showing a "postman bike" from India. The caption reads "Prototype of a postman bike bearing the new logo of India Post and its slogan in Hindi: 'Dak Seva, Jan Seva' meaning Postal Service is Public Service." Hooray!



I also received the fabulous GB-456219, showing a wonderful Postman book cover. The sender was so enthusiastic that she sent me TWO postcards, and she's been a customer in the past in my etsy shop. Small world, eh? Certainly a small world of mail aficionados!



Finally, on a postcard from the Czech Republic, I received this wonderful postage stamp showing the work of Alphonse Mucha.

Happy mailing, everyone!

Gift booklet from the LWA

The lovely Letter Writers Alliance (LWA) sent out another goodie mailing, this time in honor of reaching 400 members. Tres cool. It's a little booklet made out of old postmarked postcards.



Almost eerie: both cities on my booklet are cities of significance in my life. How cool that these are from the 1930s.