Farm Findings

I found among our Family Treasures from days of yore a book called Supreme Letter Writer (Cay Vernon, 1928). At 226 pages, it's long and covers any number of contingencies. I chuckle when I see some of them. Letters of marriage proposals are given, with a range of possible replies, including favorable, unfavorable and angry. Other possibilities include: invitation to a picnic, asking a friend for employment, a letter to a former servant and many more. Tips include salutations, such as how to address "important personages". I always liked the word "salutation". It was long, having 4 syllables, and seemed full of importance.

When growing up, Mother and her 2 sisters learned many things (like letter writing) which were in common practice; they surely are not so now. Over the course of her life, Mother wrote a lot of letters. In fact, her letter carrier commented a few years ago that Mother and her sister were the last regular weekly correspondence of those on his route. I find that sad.

Sure, I do email. And that is a great way to connect. However it is not the same as those tactile letters you walk to the mailbox to get, hold in your hand, sit in a quiet chair perhaps next to the window or a comforting lamp to read.

I remember writing letters as a child. I remember my glee when I would receive letters. In those early years, most were from my Mother's older Aunts who seemed to be more in tune to such things. They loved their connection with little ones.

I also remember being instructed in Palmer Penmanship when I was in the 2nd Grade. Miss McCully, my teacher, had samples of the alphabet and numbers displayed proudly over our slate blackboards. They seemed like works of art to me. Miss McCully's little charges learned to carefully hold our pens or pencils and scrawl our handwriting across those soft tan lined pages. I remember how proud we were. It seemed the 1st step toward writing letters.

With that background, I began to write letters with excitement. Mostly my correspondence included a few words or sentences and it was directed to family members. As my world grew, my correspondence extended to family and beyond.

My 5th grade teacher announced that we could have penpals from around the world. I really jumped on that one. After what seemed like a very long wait, I received the address of a girl about my age from New Zealand. I jumped for joy at the possibility of such a friend. I was thrilled when I received that 1st letter on the lightweight blue aerogramme paper with those colorful stamps. I continued finding penpals, bringing the number to 4. Those next 3 faded pretty quickly. I continued writing letters through young adulthood and then I just quit. Letter writing became quite a struggle. Life was too busy balancing work and family, so it seemed. While I quit writing letters, Mother just continued to write.

As we have moved to the Farm 4 years ago, I have come to love our Mailbox. Mostly it is stuffed with ads, bills, and yesterday's paper. I have once again returned to writing letters and once again returned to making homemade cards. My goal which has not yet been achieved is to write at least one letter a day.

Today, we got a wonderful letter from Emily. She hand painted a card with watercolors just perfectly for us and then wrote right on top. Her envelope was handmade from a beautiful photo in a magazine or a calendar. Such things just make me smile. Life is too short and too sweet not to take time to do such things.