XOXO! ❤️ Year of the OX!

 

The Lunar or Chinese New Year falls on February 12 this year and according to those endless interwebs, 2021 is the year of the OX. How perfectly postal!! I sign all my letters with X’s and O’s. 😉 

I live in rural America and am neighbors with all kinds of cow-type creatures, but I am not a farm girl and don’t know that much about the bovine family. What are oxen exactly? Are they the same as cows? Bulls? Steer? Heifers? Why are there so many names for cows? How does one tell the good cows from the best cows? They all appear to be outstanding in their field? 😂 

I may not know anything about those cow-type creatures but my research revealed that an ox is a mature, castrated male belonging to the domestic cattle family who was trained to do work, pulling plows and wagons and the like. Because he had to be so strong he was not considered an ox until he was at least four years old. Hence the term, “strong as an ox!” 

 

I have quite a few farmer friends that raise cattle. I think I will add them to my letter list for February Letter Month and send them some OX inspired snailmail in honor of the lunar new year and in celebration of their herd of cow-type creatures!! 🐄 

I found a super cute origami ox envelope at RED TED ART (click link for directions) to include in my snailmail and of course, a cow pun or two is always fun! Be careful of teasing cows, however. They can be really moody. 😂 

And don’t forget to check out one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE epistolary books, XO, OX A Love Story by Adam Rex and illustrated by Scott Campbell. See my review in the Literary Letters section of this blog! 📖 ❤️ 

However you choose to celebrate the year of the OX, I hope it includes some snailmail with fabulous cow-type postage!!  

Go postal, people!

OX, OX

Mrs. Murphy🐮 

Ground Hog Mail After The Fact? Gopher It!

 

February is so chock full of fun days to celebrate that I missed sending any “Ground Hog Day” post on the day itself!! But, if ever there was a day that one could do over it’s Ground Hog Day! Wouldn’t you agree? 😉 

I love coming up with date night ideas to send the younger Murphy couples through the post or just for me and Mr. Murphy.❤️ What better month for a dinner and a movie date night than February, the month of love and ground hogs!? 

“Ground Hog Day,” the humorous yet existential film from 1993, stars Bill Murray as Phil Connors, a mean-spirited, sarcastic, selfish, rude weatherman who gets stuck in a time loop on a journey to self-awareness. It is one of Mr. Murphy’s favorites. 😂 

I thought a menu that includes twice baked potatoes would be appropriate...you bake the potatoes then you bake the potatoes again.😉 Add a lovely salad, stream the film and enjoy a cozy February date night in! 

Even though the film is lighthearted, it asks some deep questions. My philosophy-loving nature enjoys asking thought provoking questions to take the conversation to a deeper level. I ALWAYS include questions to ask one another on a date. (Trust me, all of the Murphy Men are used to it.🤷‍♀️) 😉

A couple to get you started...

*Is Rita correct when she says that egocentricity is Phil’s defining characteristic? What other behaviors and attitudes make Phil such a disagreeable person?

*It has been said that relationships provide the fastest and clearest way to see shadow parts of ourselves that we have denied or buried. Do you think we have to acknowledge our basic flaws and negative feelings before true intimacy will grow? Give an example from your own life.

*Which of Phil’s little acts of kindness do you appreciate the most? What do they say about seeing value in ordinary things? 

*The Bible teaches that God created man and said it was not good for him to be alone. We were made for relationship with God and one another. Do you agree with this? How do relationships give life meaning? 

*At what point does Phil find himself in love with Rita? How does he first try to win her heart? When does Phil succeed in getting her attention? What changes does he have to make in his character?

*What is your favorite scene in the movie? 

Hopefully your postal pals enjoy this Ground Hog Day Date idea. Who knows? They may want to relive it over and over and over and over and over... 

Go postal, people! Am I right? Or am I right? Or am I right?

XOXO

Mrs. Murphy

• 
  

 

The Time Is Always Right To Do What Is Right - And Send Some Mail

 

Every February people in the US celebrate the achievements, contributions and history of African Americans during Black History Month. Mrs. Murphy’s Mailbox enjoys celebrating African American heritage through stamps and letters, of course!! 📬💌

My favorite way to learn about history is through the words and letters of the people that lived it. I found a fabulous epistolary book entitled, Letters From Black America by Pamela Newkirk. 

This book contains letters from famous politicians, entertainers, writers, activists and educators, but it also includes amazing, heartfelt correspondence from ordinary people from the 1700s through the twenty-first century.  

If you are overwhelmed with where to start, do what I do and look through your stamp collection! The USPS has had some wonderful Black Heritage postage stamps through the years and they are the perfect place to start your research. Not sure what Anna Julia Cooper is known for? Now is the perfect time to look her up!! Never read an Anne Spencer poem? Why don’t you search for one today? Do you know who Salem Poor is? Have you ever seen a Henry Ossawa Tanner painting? Have you listened to the music of Scott Joplin or Ottis Redding or Dinah Washington? The world is full of so many remarkable people!! I encourage you to check out some new-to-you folks this Black History Month!! Remember Mrs. Murphy’s Motto... ”Interested people are interesting people!!” 

According to the USPS, the first US stamp to honor an African American was the Booker T. Washington stamp, issued in 1940. In 1978, the USPS initiated the Black Heritage stamp series to recognize the achievements of individual African Americans. There have been over 180 stamps issued that honor and celebrate Black history and achievements. A vast array of interesting people and events to learn about! 🧐

I also have discovered a wonderful stationery shop, Posterity Paper, on Etsy that is owned by woman of color, Tiffany Grimes. Inspired by her grandmother’s snailmail legacy, she designs cards for people to express love and support for the people in their lives. 🥰📬 (That sounds like a familiar mission!!) I encourage all my postal pals to check out the shop and support her business. Check out her Instagram feed here:  @posteritypaper

I encourage you to find your own ways to learn about and celebrate Black History Month. Another reason February is fabulous! 

“The greatness of man is not how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.” Bob Marley. 

Go postal, people!

XOXO

Mrs. Murphy 

Dewey Belong Together? ❤️

“It’s only a room with shelves and books, but it’s far more magical than it looks.” 

So begins a poem by Varda One about the wonder of the library. 🥰 📚 February is known as the month of love but don’t just send your sweetie a Valentine, it’s also Library Lover’s Month! The entire month is dedicated to celebrating libraries, librarians, books, and lovers of libraries! 

I love libraries. Sadly, I live in a very rural area with no library. 😭 I have tried to get library cards from many nearby places with great difficulty. It all has to do with where one lives and taxes and all kinds of red tape stuff that makes me very frustrated. I’ve borrowed family members’ cards who live in bigger cities but that is not very convenient and I JUST REALLY WANT MY OWN LIBRARY CARD!😤

How wonderful is it then, that just yesterday February 2, 2021, right at the start of Library Lover’s Month, I was issued my very own library card from a small town library not too far from my home!? Woo Hoo! Talk about a Library Lover’s Month celebration!! I checked out, not one, but two books. 🥳 

I am planning to write a letter to my librarian to thank her for the wonderful work she is doing in keeping the library going and I will enclose a donation for the library fund. I also have a couple pen pals who are librarians and/or work in the library so I plan to add them to my Letter Month outgoing list! 

But right now I am going to read my library book. 🥰 

Go postal, people! And visit your library.

XOXO

Mrs. Murphy 

February Is For The Birds

 

February can be cold and tough for many. Snow, ice and freezing temperatures are certainly hard for me to handle at times. This month we are encouraged to consider our feathered friends, too! February became National (USA) Bird Feeding Month in 1994 when former Illinois Congressman John Porter proposed it in order to help bird populations survive the difficult winter months. National Bird Feeding Month encourages people to provide food, water, and shelter to wild birds in areas with cold temperatures and limited natural resources like plants and berries. 

During National Bird Feeding Month each February, Cornell Lab, The National Audubon Society and Birds Canada coordinate the Great Backyard Bird Count! This year the dates are February 12-15, 2021.  This is a global citizen-science project that helps count birds and gather data about bird populations, fluctuations and migration patterns. According to their website the last year’s data included:

Great Backyard Bird Count results from 2020:

• 268,674 Estimated Participants
• 27,270,156 Total Birds Counted
• 6,942 Species of Birds Identified
• 194 Countries

I have some bird folks in my life, not just amateur “birders” or “twitchers”, but people who actually are ornithology majors and research people!! I’m sure they would like a bird themed letter and if 😉 they write me back, I will most certainly learn a lot!  

Won’t you join me in helping feed the birds in February!? Of course you must send some bird themed snailmail and tell your penpal(or me) about all of the bird species you’ve noted in your backyard! And don’t forget to go to The Great Backyard Bird Count and log your sightings!! 🦅 

 

“Consider the birds of the air...”

XOXO,

Mrs. Murphy 

Hooray! February!

Write on! Write now! February is here! February, the month of letters! In letter writing circles February is known as the letter writing challenge month. lettermo.com and INCOWRIMO.org are two groups that challenge us to write and send one letter, note, card, postcard, etc. everyday in the month of February. Sounds like fun to me!! 🥰

Lately my energy and motivation has been sapped by the pandemic and the effect COVID-19 has had on my work as a nurse at the hospital.😞 But thanks to February, aka Letter Month 💌, my motivation is building!! I am hoping to write and send some Mrs. Murphy Mailbox mail during the letter month challenge. 

I will share my ideas and, of course, my postage stamps 🤗, here on Mrs. Murphy’s Mailbox! Won’t you join me in accepting the challenge of Letter Month!?!🥳 💌 📬 🐌 

Let’s go postal, people!!

XOXO

Mrs. Murphy 

Professional Encouragement Correspondent

 

If I could have any career in the world, I would like to be a professional Encouragement Correspondent. Someone who sends unexpected, encouraging letters through the postal service to brighten someone’s day!! Unfortunately, I don’t think that job exists. At least not at the professional level. 🤔 💰 

I recently had a wonderful experience in which a Mrs. Murphy’s Mailbox letter was requested for a friend of a friend. I loved sharing hopeful thoughts and cheering sentiments with my new postal pal. 🥰 I hope my recipient was buoyed with comforting words through the post. I know my day was brightened by writing and sending the snailmail. Not only is the letter enjoyable to write, but I love picking out the perfect postage stamps and decorating the envelopes! There is true joy in simple things. 

Snailmail is extra fun when you send and receive letters through the post. But I have discovered a special joy in sending encouraging words to someone who didn’t ask for it or will probably not write back. Why don’t you try it, my fellow Encouragement Correspondents. 

Go postal, people! It truly is better to give than receive.

XOXO,

Mrs. Murphy