October 2, 2007
Some things are supposed to be simple--like sending postcards. A little handwritten message on the back of a picture taken in the 60's can be flung around the world with just a fistful of stamps in just six short weeks. Can it be called anything other than stunning? However, I just learned, to my shock, that the post office places a long white sticker with a barcode or something along the bottom edge of postcards, presumably in the name of automation. It is troubling to think about how long it would take without this automation. Sadly, of course, this is also the place on the card where I usually end with an pithy, idiomatic--read, boring--salutation and a handsome signature. Now I find out that for some time all the postcards I've sent seem to end in mid-thought. So, if you've received one of these postcards, this post is to emphasize that underneath that tape I'm closing the message, rather than just writing a short note and not
