Friday, July 9, 2010

Where Have My Letters Gone?

Dropping a stack of letters in the mailbox today, I noted that they were headed to a variety of destinations--New York, Washington, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Colorado. Which got me thinking: where have all my letters gone?

I added them up.


Illinois 36
Iowa 18
New Mexico 18
Colorado 10
New York 5
Ohio 4
Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan 3
Minnesota, Oklahoma, Virginia 2
Arizona, California, Montana, Oregon,
Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin
1
Alberta, CANADA 1

I guess it comes as no surprise that a great many letters have been delivered right in my backyard in Illinois, seeing as I've been seizing opportunities to reach out to friends and coworkers and family with words of congratulations, sympathy or simply "I'm thinking of you."

The rest of the destinations are a combination--of states I used to live in and states my friends and family have moved to. Besides being a wonderful reminder of all the places I might stop off on a cross-country road trip, the list strikes me as another way these letters are serving as a journal of sorts--in many cases I am reminded not only who I've been, but where I've been (and, in the case of my friend living in Montana, where I might want to "be" next).

If you wrote letters to people important in your life, in what state would you guess most of them would end up?

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: A favorite letter-writing blogger of mine, Missive Maven, responded to my recent cheap shot at the U.S. Postal Service and its proposed rate hike.

"I would personally much rather pay 2 more cents for a first class stamp than lose Saturday mail delivery, which is also a very real possibility," MM wrote in an eloquent comment on my post. "I believe we still have one of the most affordable and reliable methods of mail delivery in the world, and I hesitate to malign our postal service which brings such joy to my life."

MM is right. We do enjoy a reliable and affordable mail service that much of the rest of the world does not. And "enjoy" is the operative word. Like she said, without the postal service, there would be less joy--a lot less in my life and, perhaps, just a little bit less in each letter recipient's life.

2 comments:

The Missive Maven said...

Thanks for the link and the quote. :-)

Love from Kaz said...

The Missive Maven makes a really valid point. I've been guilty of bagging Australia Post (in my case, it was because we don't have Saturday delivery), but it's true that they provide a very efficient, economical and reliable service - that brings a great deal of joy into my life. I will never pay them out ever, ever again!