Boston World Expo

 We are now just hours away from Boston 2026 World Expo, a multi day convention featuring all things postal.  This event has special interest, as the USPS will be releasing several highly anticipated new stamp designs, including the long-sought Postcrossing theme stamp.  The USPS celebrated 250 years of existence last year, and the USA will do the same this year, so many stamp issues are of a patriotic nature.  These include bald eagles, American bison, and treasures of the Revolutionary Era.  But what has held my attention more than anything else is the Encore Issue.  On Saturday, May 24, a special repeat release of some previous stamp favorite will be announced.  About a year ago, voting was open to the public to choose which design from a large selection will be chosen for re-release.  For myself, I chose the frozen treats scratch and sniff stamp, which smelled like delicious ice cream.  The chosen design has been a closely guarded secret, and I've not heard any rumors as to which former stamp will once again become available.  The "stamp con" will undoubtedly be a great experience; I wish I could be there in person.  But I will be soon sending a whole slew of new stamps on postcard to recipients all around the world.  Write on!

Back on the list

As I requested a batch of addresses from Postcrossing this morning to write some postcards, I was surprised to be assigned an address for Russia.  Because of US sanctions, USPS mail service to Russia has been suspended for the last couple of years.  I have been receiving postcards from Russia, but could not send any postcard to Russia.  Until this morning.  Not wanting to waste time and expense, I have tried to verify this change.  A check of the Postcrossing Postal Monitor page, and the USPS Service Alerts page shows that Russia is no longer listed as a suspended destination.  But it seems to be a very quiet policy change since I can find no specific announcement of a resumption of Russia service by any reputable source.  So I guess I'll take a chance and write the postcard and I hope it reaches you soon, Nikolai in Leningrad.  Stay tuned for any updates.  Write on!

Blog to blog, redux

 Last December, I wrote about a blog that displays postal covers from around the world.  The blog's author, Daniel Mathieu, solicits postal covers from like-minded people: those with beautiful stamps and interesting postmarks receive extra thanks.  So back in December, I sent an envelope with the newly issued USPS Revolutionary War stamps.  Then a couple weeks ago during National Letter Writing Month, I sent another cover with brand new stamps depicting famous individuals of the Revolutionary War.  President George Washington was an obvious choice to use, in combination with the Marquis de Lafayette, a nod towards the important contributions of France in obtaining American freedom.  This time, in addition to a letter using my best Duolingo French, I included some photo postcards of my hometown, Birmingham, Alabama.  Daniel shows these in his post, along with some links to additional info for those who might wish to know more about Washington, Lafayette, the Boston Tea Party, Birmingham, or our Vulcan Statue.  Write on!

Stamp out disappointment

 And now, the follow-up to yesterday’s Stamp Out Hunger charity food collection by the USPS. Our donation was ignored; not picked up, but was just left at our mailbox. The carrier even had to stop at our address and deliver a parcel to the front door which would not fit in the mailbox. There’s no way he missed seeing our donation.  Despite participating in this commendable effort for the last several years, our letter carrier simply did not collect our package of food. Was this his own personal decision? Or a choice by the local Helena Alabama post office?  I don’t know the answer to that. As I say, food has been collected in past years, and local media has mentioned the United Way in this area is participating in the food drive. I can say that on weekends, we have a different carrier than Shannon, our excellent usual weekday carrier. But on weekends, there is a substitute guy. And yesterday was not even our usual sub, but some guy I didn’t recognize. Did he not know about the drive? Did he make a personal decision not to participate? I realize being a mail carrier is hard work, and this food drive adds to the burden. But this represents personal laziness, or poor training and communication at the Helena post office.  It’s sad to see so many people’s good intentions can be stymied by one individual. On the other hand, the package of food that my wife carefully curated and specifically purchased for this food drive now stands ready for some other one in the near future, whether at a church, or some similar community organization.  It will make its way to those in need, and soon. 

Stamp out hunger day

 Despite some rain last night, the weather has cleared to that I can leave my contribution of non-perishable food items at my mailbox for today’s letter carrier to pick up. Hope you can do the same. Working together, we can help lessen at least one of the world’s problems. 

Stamp Out Hunger 2026

 Each year on the second Saturday in May, the US Postal Service, along with the National Association of Letter Carriers and local agencies, collect non-perishable food as part of their campaign to Stamp Out Hunger.  In my part of the world, this noble effort is joined by the United Way.  To do your part to help feed those in need, you can simply leave a container of non perishable food items at your mailbox on Saturday, May 9th.  Your donated items will be collected by your mail carrier and brought to local food banks for distribution.  The need for basic food items never goes away, and at this time of year when holiday donations have been depleted, any help is very welcome.  Collection day is one week away, so it's not too soon to gather some items to have ready for collection next Saturday.  Join me in this effort to make the world a little better place.