Viva La Snailmail!!

 

I think a lot about birthdays. As a labor and delivery nurse birth is my business, after all! And as a snailmail enthusiast what better reason is there for sending post? At the beginning of the year I make a list of all my important birthdays. January is a big month for the Murphy family!! I have many family members and friends that start the calendar year with a birthday. 🥳 🎂 

A birthday is a new beginning!

A birthday is the first day of another lovely year,

A year of new tomorrows that is shining, bright and clear,

A year of possibilities as endless as the sky, and a chance to meet the challenges in everything you try! 

I know a certain someone who has always loved miniature things. I thought it would be fun to send a miniature birthday party package! One balloon to blow up, one birthday cake flavored cookie, one small birthday letter, a tiny package of confetti! A little package with a large portion of joy, I hope! 📦 

Being present at so many births makes me think of the connection one has with all the other people being born on the exact same day down through the centuries!! January is the birthday month of many interesting folks! And some of them have been memorialized on a postage stamp! A postage stamp connection with my postage stamp collection. 🥰 Yay! 

One of my favorite January birthday boys is, none other than, Elvis Presley!! His first commemorative postage stamp is the best-selling US postage stamp in postal history! The USPS printed 517 million Elvis stamps in 1993. 🤯 That’s three times the usual print run for a commemorative. Elvis has another stamp that was issued in his honor in 2015. If you’re not lucky enough to have one of these great stamps in your collection, you can always purchase unused vintage postage from online postage stamp shops.  (One of my favorites is www.edelweisspost.com) 😊 Don’t be afraid to use unused vintage postage on your snailmail creations today!! Just make sure that the total value of stamps adds up to the current postal rate for a first class letter! ($0.58 as of January 2022)

I’m thinking about making an Elvis themed birthday package for a few of my January birthday friends. Nothing like celebrating with the King! Viva La Snailmail!! 

One of the most important things to remember when you are making your birthday list is not to worry if you can’t get to everyone on your list in a timely manner. Even if the wishes are belated, I’ve found that birthday post always makes a “good mail day!” So just keep sending snailmail!! 

Go postal, people!! It’s a good thing!! 

XOXO,

Mrs. Murphy 🥳

Moonlight Mail! 🌙

I was driving home from work the other night and the fields were glistening with snow in the moonlight. It was so beautiful. It brought to mind a line from Shelley…

  The cold earth slept below;

       Above the cold sky shone;

I was reminded of one night I was driving home in the winter under a bright full moon. The moonlight was reflecting off the snowy fields so brightly that it almost seemed like day! I even turned my lights off, only very briefly, to see just how bright it really was!! (It turned out I still needed headlights! 😳 LOL!) 

All these thoughts of the winter moon reminded me of a lovely children’s book I read to the MurphyBros when they were young. Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. It is a lovely story about a father who takes his child “owling” on a cold winter’s night. The watercolor illustrations are wonderful, too! 

I’ve recently discovered that there are names for the full moons. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac the January Moon is the Wolf Moon. The names they have chosen for each monthly moon come from a number of sources, including Native American, Colonial American and European traditions. 

January’s full moon is called the Wolf Moon. It is thought that it was so named because wolves were more likely to be heard howling at this time. 

Is there a friend or family member you only hear from once in a blue moon? Why not send them some mail? You can relate a moon story of your own!! 

Take inspiration from everything around you! Tell a story, recall a poem, draw a picture, share some postage!! Send some moonlight mail to someone you love!!

Go postal, people!! (In a good way😊 📬)

XOXO 

Mrs. Murphy