West End Girl

I really like these big mapcards. This is London's West End. Margie lived here for a while before coming back to the US, and even though London is one of the most expensive cities in the world, she would move back in a heartbeat if she could. She remembers wandering through the area around the palace the first week she was there and seeing a small exhibit with very little signage, hidden away in an out-of-the-way corner. She dutifully checked her Time Out listings but still didn't find any details. So, she went in to check it out and found a giant collection of Da Vinci sketches. A huge collection of small wonders, just waiting for passerbys to happen upon them. It must have been like a private showing.

I would love to live in London. Or Paris. I imagine a life filled with small delights around every corner, and the public transportation to get to them. I know my imaginings are romantic, but romantic imaginings are a necessity of life.

This Isn't a Few Birds!

This beautiful building is the Potter School and it was built in 1870. It is now a private home, but it was used in the famous Alfred Hitchcock thriller, The Birds. The subject line is a quote from the movie.

Susan used to watch The Birds on a local television station's special feature presentation called "Creature Features." She writes, "I vividly remember watching it as a child (what were my parents thinking?)," and she would not sit near the fireplace in case the birds came down the chimney.

This card came back with the beautiful USPS Hitchcock postage and Canadian postage. Susan now lives in Canada, so either I put the Hitchcock postage on before sending the orphan to her, not remembering that she is in Canada, or she happened to have one in her stash. Either way, I am very happy to have this postage on this particular card!

Dear Mozart

Hardly a day goes by that your music isn't featured in some aspect of my life. I wonder if knowing ordinary people listen to your music all the time would surprise you? It has been 219 years today since your death, and still you remain at the top of classical music lists.

This postcard featuring a painting of you as a child is attributed to the artist Pietro Antonio Lorenzoni, but it is not know for certain if he is really the artist. Your eyes are so old in this picture, like they could see into your chaotic future and the sight aged them.

My friend Juli sent me this postcard and asked if I had ever seen the movie made about your life, Amadeus. I have, as well as a stage production of the same. Both are wonderful in their own way, but I found myself more curious about the composer Salieri, who comes across as a sad, jealous man. But, I've read that the combative relationship between you and him was fabricated for the 20th century audience. It's okay, though. I know it's only a show.

I've been to Salzburg and visited your birthplace, with all its memorabilia enshrined behind glass. The town itself is a shrine to your life. But, even with all the tacky trinkets and tourist trappings, Salzburg still charms. Must be your music that clears away the tacky from mind and leave only the beauty.

Postally Yours,
PostMuse

Journey from Wales and Back Again

Tallie, who currently lives in Washington State, visited Wales with her mom and grandmother. Her grandmother grew up in Colwyn Bay, which is way up in the north, near Conwy. Gran married one of her patients, a WW II soldier, and moved to the US, living in Iowa, then California, then Colorado and finally to Washington State.

While in Wales they climbed to the top of Great Orme (hill) near Gran's old home and admired the view of the sea below. Gran said it was just the same as when she was a girl - minus the carpark at the top.

I've been to that part of Wales and it is indeed a step back in time. I would love to return and spend more time exploring the region.

Rabbit Mail

Since Cristal is a US Postal Service employee, I thought this card would be an appropriate "orphan" for her to adopt. The artist is Elina Mankki, Finland, and I don't know anything about her work. I wonder if the design is meant to be a reverse on "snail mail" though. Rabbit mail would be much faster!

I also included the se-tenant postage featuring the US Postal Service at work. The series is called Postal People and was issued in 1973. It had ten stamps in the row, and I have used all ten stamps, just not all at the same time. That would total 80¢ postage and since postcards in the US only cost 28¢ postage, I am reluctant to "over-frank" by that much.

Elusive Café

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Marie's favorite memory of Dubrovnik is sitting in a café outside the city walls with a wonderful view of a little island and the welcoming warm sea below. To find this café she had to go through a small hole in the wall! In the US we have an expression that is used for small, out of the way locations ... they are called "hole in the wall." It isn't usually meant literally, but I guess in Dubrovnik, the expression really does mean what it says!

Paths Crossed

It has been many years since Juli visited Maine, but the images of Camden are still fresh. She hiked up Mount Battie, which was quite a hike for a flatlander Floridian, where she lived at the time. As a reward she got a gorgeous view of Camden and Penobscot Bay, and a lobster dinner! Juli lives in Wyoming now, with Yellowstone National Park in her backyard. And the huge Grand Tetons rising up to greet her.

Cappy's Chowder House has been a Camden tradition for more than 30 years. It's one of those places that always brings back great memories. Good food made with as much local produce and seafood as possible.

It's not unusual for mail enthusiasts to cross paths. Soon after this "orphan" was returned, I got a letter from one of Juli's friends, Sarah, who still lives in Florida. Sarah's mom, Susan, and I wrote to each other for a year or so. Susan died quite suddenly in July 2009. I miss Susan very much and Sarah will often send me little reminders of Susan. In the letter Sarah included a clipping from the Indianapolis Star, a newspaper Susan would have read, that details a wonderful restaurant that Susan would have enjoyed called Square Rootz Deli. That restaurant also focuses on locally grown food and seems like the sort of place where one goes to enjoy food and friends, very much like Cappy's.