Day 49, February 18

Hand-written notes are as rare as hen's teeth these days. (Don't you love that expression--hen's teeth?  I learned it from my mother, who probably learned it from her mother.)  With email, texting, instagram, Facebook, and a host of other social media keeping us in touch, who has time for a hand-written note, carefully folded into an envelope, and sent through the mail?

I do.

Though I love the ease of email and other forms of instant communication, I also love to send and to receive cards.  Even in the 1850s, when letter writing was a common place activity, the arrival of a letter or card could still cause wonder and delight.

Upon receiving a note from a friend, Emily Dickinson wrote, " ... which came on Saturday night, when all the world was still; thank you for the love it bore me, and for its golden thoughts, and feelings so like gems, that I was sure I gathered them in whole baskets of pearls."  This extraordinary woman and poet expresses what I'd like to say when I receive a card or letter in the mail.

Joy for today:  finding beauty in hand-written words.