to receive old-fashioned post

I get lots of post. Hold on a minute, I need to re-phrase that and start again.  Lots of post gets delivered to my house (that's far more accurate), and once I've sifted out the parcels from ebay, Amazon and Asos (almost a daily delivery - that's what happens when you have two daughters!) all that's usually left is junk mail, bills and statements (why do they keep sending these when I have opted out of paper copies?).

Now and again  may get a white envelop, but the franking and pre-printing give away the fact that it's yet another offer for cable tv, cheap insurance or a credit card, and rarely, very rarely, I get an item of post that puzzles and excites me - yes, it does excite me really (but then again I lead a sheltered life!).  This week I have had two of those days as my doormat welcomed me home with unexpected visitors of a very pleasant kind.

Tomorrow is my birthday, and today I had a card through the post from a friend who lives quite close by, but who often posts stuff, maybe because she knows what a pleasure and surprise it is to be on the receiving end, or maybe because it's easier to pop a card into the post box than to think about when to call round. Whatever the reason I approve wholeheartedly - a coloured envelop too so I could see as I came down the stairs that there was something special waiting.

When I came home from work on Wednesday there was another coloured envelop waiting for me - this time all the way from Nepal.  One of my very lovely friends has been travelling around India, Nepal and surrounding areas for a few of years now (I joined her for a couple of weeks last year) and we keep in touch regularly by email, but seeing the words in her handwriting felt all the more personal - I could hear her talking to me as I read the letter and found myself talking back (in my head - I'm not that weird!).

The best things about real post though (there's two of them) are that firstly, you can keep, read, and re-read to your heart's content, reliving old memories that, when combined, tell a story that my deleted chain of emails don't, and secondly, you get to hold, touch, turn and even smell the paper (especially the one from Nepal!) - a really tactile experience.  Seeing, picking up and reading the letter and cards that have plopped through my letterbox this week, just makes me smile.