Postmarks

My great, great Aunt Reta had a friend named Lilian who liked to collect stamps. She'd send for them in the mail, and they'd arrive in little wax paper envelopes.

She also corresponded with friends and family that lived overseas and in various parts of Canada and the United States, and kept the stamps from those letters, too.

And whether she meant to or not, Lily collected postmarks. I find these to be just as interesting as the stamps, and each one very telling of a particular historical moment. 

I need to write more good old-fashioned letters, don't you think?

Ream

This time of year my eye is drawn to the landscape for how it interrupts snow's whiteness.

Soon spring's rain will arrive and with it, all of the small twigs and leaves from a previous season. But I want to enjoy the snow for as long as it's here; it still has something to show me. 

 Edna O'Brien says that "in a way, winter is the real spring, the time when the inner things happen, the resurgence of nature." This sounds about right to me. 

Little pretties

Most of the time it's enough to appreciate something without taking it home with you. That being said, last weekend while antiquing with my mom I fell hopelessly in love with an oak filing cabinet that once held a dress shop's inventory of Vogue sewing patterns. I didn't need it, but I just couldn't leave it behind. In my complete fawning over it, I even forgot to take a picture! I'll post some when it's delivered next week.

Flowering

All week my apartment has been scented by a single stem of hyacinth.  

Anemones have opened gradually, learning their way around the lip of the jar.

They'll stay on my table until the last bit of stem turns as soft and yellow as gold.

Vintage Valentine

Most of these valentines belonged to a girl named Berdena, though I think it's safe to say that I may like them just as much as she did.