Years and years have gone by when I haven't considered the common everyday letter. Now I write one or two a day. Why just today I got one in the mail box. There it was - flat little white rectangle with my name on it! My heart leapt and I put it in my pocket to read at the beach. For every walk to the post office is followed by one to the beach. So off me and the gal set while I pondered letters.
When I'm sending out letters I think of them as seeds. I imagine that they will grow more letters. So I don't worry about how long it takes. Seeds take forever! And so does the mail in coming to North West River. The letter I got today came from Halifax. It was sent or at least postmarked on the 16th of this month. That meant it took 8 days to reach me. It is supposed to take four but hey! It isn't even a reply to one of the 15 I've sent out but a seed put into the earth by the woman who sent it. I've only been sending letters for eleven days now so people are probably just starting to get them! Will they answer them or will I be getting their first missives? I answered Gwen's letter right away. And I put a number on it - #2 - right on the envelope so if she gets confused she'll be able to order it up - even though I do date each letter I send.
I think of those letters my Dad and his brothers sent home during the war. Sometimes their Dad or sisters would get them a bunch all at once with no consideration of when they were sent. So they numbered them. And in almost every letter was the plaintive 'please write - gosh it's been so long!' or something akin to that.
I'm also thinking of this friend of Annie's sister. He is over a hundred years old and when she asked him what he thought had helped him the most to attain that age and his apparent good health - he said that he wrote AND posted a letter a day. It did get a few of us in a flurry for awhile but then we let it slide. Now I might too - no guarantees but so far - I'm loving sending out my little seeds.
our little beach house.
Caribou Moss
The man picking up shell casings on our hike to find the falls.
various signs and portents ...
1 comment:
And here you are. In Labrador, and in my family room. So glad you are back. Look forward to reading your adventures. I used to be an "extreme" letter writer, but the internet has ruined that for me. But then, now I write blog posts...
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