reinventing the letter

ooh, messy house

Cameron got mail today. My cousin in Utah has a first grader who needed to send Flat Stanley to another state. (More on Flat Stanley later.) So he sent Flat Stanley and a book about F.S. to us. I'll save our adventures with our house guest for another post. But Cameron opening his mail with such anticipation got me thinking...

I want to reinvent the letter. I discussed in another post my year in Virginia and how much I treasured the letters I received whilst I was away. That must be obvious since I still have them. I also still have the letters I received from my east coast friends subsequent to my return to Idaho. Oh mail. I loved getting the mail.



These days I have a terrible habit of neglecting the mail altogether. Richard gives me a hard time about this.

"Important things come in the mail, Jo."

Like what? Credit card offers as numerous as the sands of the sea? And by the way, how did I get subscribed to Field & Stream?

Occasionally I will get something worth the cold winter walk to the end of the driveway. But for the most part I avoid such walks, letting the mail pile up in the mailbox until Richard's return on Friday nights. Visualize this ritual;

We pull up from the airport. I unload the boys, Richard makes that walk down the driveway. Dramatic eye roll in my direction as he carries an armload of ads and bills that should probably just be dropped in the recycle bin on his way into the house. (At least campaign season is over, talk about a waste of trees.)

So I am going to reinvent the letter. Starting here. I want a reason to go to the mailbox each day. I want to experience the excitement of waiting for correspondence written on actual paper. I am looking for a penpal. For me, or for Cameron. Preferrably someone more than 1,000 miles away who we don't actually know. I know you are out there.

Your mailbox will thank you.

Oh, and my husband will thank you too.