Metz (France)

Voici une carte postale de mon ami Dominique, qui m’envoie aussi des recettes françaises et alsaciennes par email. J’en ai essayé une, et j’espère avoir le temps d’en essayer une nouvelle qui me paraît très bonne!

Ici la ville de Metz, pas trop loin d’où j’habitais pendant mon séjour en France. En fait, je connais à l’époque-là un colleague de l’université qui a été placé à Metz pendant la même année que j’étais à Valenciennes. Malheureusement, nous n’avons pas eu l’ocasion de nous revoir. Donc il faudra que je visite Metz dans le futur!

.

German sweets

This postcard comes from a sender whose hobbies overlap quite nearly with mine: reading, baking, hiking, traveling, Postcrossing, and living near a wine region. I’m not sure if that last one is really a hobby, but at least we have that in common! How many German desserts have you tried?

Collognes-la-Rouge, Limousin (France)

Voici encore une très jolie carte postale de mon ami Dominique, qui m’envoie les cartes de sa propre collection. Ici, une vue du village Collonges-la-Rouge, première étape pour le Pelerinage de St. Jacques de Compostelle en Espagne. J’ai beaucoup aimé apprendre le mot en français pour le pelerinage, car je l’ai appris premièrement dans mon cours d’espagnole comme: Camino de Santiago de Compostela. Un jour, même si ne je suis plus réligieux, j’aimerais suivre le chemin-là.

Alida Hoeve cheese farm (the Netherlands)

I wonder if this is another thrift store find from my great friend Linda? In any case, it’s a terrific find and I’m very grateful to have received it! It depicts the inside of a cheese farm (and wooden shoe cobbler?!) from the Netherlands! I’ve only been to the Netherlands twice, and then only to Amsterdam (this is in Volendam), so I have quite a bit of travel to do! Plus, who doesn’t love cheese?

the Milky Way via Grand Canyon Nat’l Park

Every quarter since the pandemic started, I have offered to mail each of my students a postcard in the hopes of creating some extra bit of a personal connection. Although I am grateful to have a job and to be able to deliver effective courses online, I dearly miss seeing them in person. This is my small way of trying to deliver a small smile during what is certainly an incredibly difficult time to be a student.

Here is a postcard that one of my students sent in return with some very thoughtful and touching words. She writes that this card is an inspiration to us both to travel when it’s safe and responsible to do so, which is a thought I can get 100% behind.

It’s great to see a smile go round-trip, so mille grazie, Maria!

exciting postcards (Finland)

How cute! I love the recursivity of this image (the postcard is depicted inside the postcard) as well as the excited looks on the animals’ faces. This is definitely me every day when I run down to the mailbox to see if any postcards have arrived. Imagine my delight last week when this one arrived from my friend Jussi in Finland, complete with stamps from other Finnish postcrossers!

Farol de Natal (Brazil)

This terrific postcard arrived today from a retired firefighter in Brazil! Strangely, it was in a plastic sleeve despite being in good condition. I wonder who added it? The sender? The Brazilian post? Or the US post?

Williams-Brice Stadium (South Carolina)

This postcard comes from a new penpal of mine in South Carolina. Embarrassingly, I sent him a postcard that he’d already received, so I’ll have to find something particularly good to send him to make up for the accident! He writes about how excited he is that the University of South Carolina has decided that the stadium pictured here will be open at 100% capacity. I’m sure many sports fans will be thrilled to be able to partake live and in person in their favorite events!

Maui Wine (Hawai’i)

If it looks like the image is a bit washed out, that’s because it is. But far from a bug, this is a big feature of this beautiful postcard, sent by my brother-in-law during his last few weeks in Hawai’i. The postcard is printed on koa wood, which is a tree endemic to the Hawai’ian islands and it’s beautifully supple! The card itself depicts the vineyards of a winery on Maui: Maui Wine. It’s great timing, as we just got back from a weekend in Paso Robles where we were tasting wines!

He’s been staying there for a few months to make a more informed decision about whether Hawai’i is really his future home. I’ll be eager to see him in a few weeks so we can discuss his experience in person!

el Diablito (Washington DC)

My very good friend Katie sends this love from Washington DC, after having seen the collection of postcards in a shop. She knew exactly which one to send and writes observantly: “He has one cloven hoof and one goofy chicken foot - maybe the hooves are like devil puberty, the last thing to show up?”

What are the developmental milestone of devils, I wonder?

Grüsse aus Braunschweig (Germany)

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

There’s something about those great, German schlosses (schlossen?) - they just have a steadiness and permanence to them that captures the eye. This postcard comes from a retiree who lives in a very small village and is working on his garden. That doesn’t sound too bad for a retirement, does it?

the English Country Lane

I go back and forth on art cards, but I LOVE a hand-drawn map, especially when it’s as charming as this. Also, how often do you see maps that depict England only (and not including Wales or Scotland)?! The sender of this card is a polyglot after my own heart; we have so much in common!

In our America… (Oregon)

This postcard arrives from Portland, Oregon, one of my favorite destinations. I was thrilled to receive this lovely card, a product of a Facebook group called “Nasty Women Get Shit Done!” On my last trip to PDX, we saw several of these in people’s yards and windows. What a great message of inclusiveness and justice. If you wouldn’t fly one in your yard, I think you have some hard questions to ask yourself.

un assureur pour les mourants (France)

Encore une carte postale de mon ami fidèle Dominique, qui me passe cette message de son assureur. Franchement, je ne suis pas sûr de la tout comprendre. C’est à dîre que l’assureur appuie les patients au point de mourir (ils comptent les minutes parce qu’ils n’en ont pas des heures pour compter)?

Néanmoins, j’adore les cartes postales qui sont aussi des advertissements, surtout s’ils ont des messages qui me font réflechir.

Avez-vous noté que le medecin-ci ne porte pas de masque? Même avant la pandémie, les medecins portaient des masques, n’est-ce pas? :-)

Jordan/Biology Hall, Indiana University

This postcard comes courtesy of an old friend and former program-mate of mine, who sends greetings from her campus (even if she, like me, hasn’t visited it in person in some time). I’m interested to see that Jordan Hall at Indiana University is named for the same person that Jordan Hall at my workplace Stanford University is named for: David Starr Jordan.

Jordan was a staunch eugenicist, which is a nice word for a racist scumbag. His scientific contributions have been overshadowed and perhaps called into question by his unscientific moral decrepitude.

A group of students and others has finally convinced the Stanford administration to rename the hall. It seems the Indiana University did similarly!

The Line DC

This terrific design comes from the hotel where two friends stayed recently while visiting family on the East Coast. I really love its design; the bold outlines and the color palette are very evocative of another time. I can only imagine how beautiful the hotel itself was!

Mono Lake (California)

What a beautiful postcard that just arrived yesterday! I’ve been meaning to visit Mono Lake for some time now and this just reminded me of the beauty and variety of landscapes available in the state where I live. Who has been? What did you think?

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

San Diego Postcrossers (California

This beautiful postcard comes courtesy of the organizer of our very own San Francisco Postcrossers group! This is the second card of this style I’ve seen, where the users send in their avatars which are then printed on the card! I love it; it’s super cute!

Fort Jackson (South Carolina)

This postcard comes from a new penpal of mine who lives in South Carolina. With many of my family members having served in the military, I may have slightly more experience visiting military bases than the average civilian. However, I’ve never visited Fort Jackson. Interestingly, I heard that many of the military bases in the South were deliberately named after Confederate military leaders (how strange that a country’s military bases would be named after traitors!). At least this one is not named for a Confederate traitor, though.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Tom of Finland (bis) (Finland)

Here’s another terrific image from the Tom of Finland collection that my penpal Jussi has sent. This style of cap is so iconic to me but I don’t even know what they’re called. A quick web search turned up lots of sites selling them—or facsimiles thereof—but I’m not sure what they’re called. I wonder if they’re based on, or inspired by historical uniforms worn by Finnish police officers or soldiers? They’re certainly synonymous now with erotic hypermasculinity. There was a time when any self-respecting white, gay man would have worn at least one or two pieces like this when going out to cruise. I think you still see some of this style at the Folsom Street Fair and other places that gay men in the leather and kink communities congregate. Well, as the hip people say now: it’s a whole mood!