It's in the mail 6

 For today's mailbox, we stay close to home.  Specifically, the curbside mailboxes in the drive-through lane of my local post office.  Now, the Helena Post Office is, I think, more of a branch service center.  It offers many of the services one expects of a full-function post office, including post office boxes, counter service, and package collection.  But I sense that no real mail sorting or cancellations happen there.  Mail I send from here is actually sorted and postmarked at the major regional service center in Birmingham.  And tracking sometimes shows that incoming parcels I receive originate from the larger post office in nearby Alabaster.  Still, it is fortunate that this post office is so close to my home, and directly on my commute to work.  As the town of Helena, tiny when I moved here 25 years ago, has grown and spread out to the west, this post office is a long drive away for many city residents.  Some years ago, I had heard rumors of a second post office that was being planned for the distant west end of the city, but ongoing financial problems within the USPS seem to have ended that possibility.  Anyways, I routinely drop outgoing postcards and letters in these boxes, and from here they reach the far corners of the world.

Helena, Alabama Post Office

Final mow

 Always my favorite time of the year regarding this tiresome chore. With cool nights and dry days, my Bermuda grass lawn is going into its dormant phase for the winter.  And my regular lawnmowing chore is done for a few months.  There's plenty of yard work yet to be done, as always.  But at least me and John Deere get a rest for a while.

The kindest cut

 Today is one of my most favorite days of the year.  With cool nights and a traditionally dry period of the year, my bermudagrass lawn is beginning to go into its annual dormant period.  That means today is probably the last lawn mowing of the season.  It's a chore I detest, and the prospect of a five month hiatus fills me with glee.  In Thornton Wilder's classic play, Our Town, the character of Mr. Webb takes great pride in caring for his modest lawn.  I, however, can only muster the enthusiasm to keep mine barely presentable.  It is a great tribute to the charity of my sole next-door neighbor that he has never complained about my unkempt landscape.  But today, using my trusty old John Deere, I will mow and trim it for the last time in many weeks, and will finally be content. 

Raindrops fallin' on my head

 For decades, I have had a strong interest in the weather, and so my home is a reporting station for meteorological data.  Through an automated Tempest weather station that feeds updates to the internet, anyone may view the current conditions at my location.  But as a less automated endeavor, I make a daily report of rainfall to CoCoRaHS, the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. Each morning at a certain time, I and a vast group of registered volunteers across the country go out to take the reading of an accurate rain gauge and send in the reading to the network.  This data is compiled and is made available for use by farmers, meteorologists, civic planners, and others.  It's quite satisfying to contribute to such a useful organization.  The CoCoRaHS network in turn provides me with some nifty graphs and charts of all the data I contribute.  So whenever somebody asks me, "What's the weather like?" I can give them an answer far more detailed than they expected.

Workin' at the car wash

 Lately, my schedule and declining energy levels have led to my increasing use of automatic car washes, rather than doing it by hand as I once commonly did.  There are two competing carwashes nearby, the venerable Wash It Off and the newer, fancier (and much more expensive) Tidal Wave Auto Spa. I take my car through one of them every other week or so and am always mesmerized by the action of the tunnel mechanisms.  I have occasionally whiled away great swaths of time viewing car wash videos, posted by those who also have a fascination with them.  Having a clean and tidy car is still one of my joys in life.

Write soon

 Since postal mail is one of my passions, I would be very happy to hear from you by that mode.  Snail mail will get my attention much quicker than texts, email, voicemail, or any other digital communication.  These days, being able and willing to send a handwritten message by mail counts as one of my superpowers.  Most people I know couldn't gather a piece of paper, an envelope, and a stamp without a great effort.  But for those of you who are up to the challenge, I'd love to hear from you.  On any topic.  And any mail I receive will earn a prompt and confidential response.  The best part is that postal mail evades the internet's all-seeing eyes, and is much more private than its electronic counterpart.  For the intrepid, send your missives to me at:

Peter Eipers
P.O. Box 750
Helena, AL 35080
USA

And they will arrive at my quaint nearby post office box.

Helena Alabama Post Office - via Minox subminiature camera