New Handwriting

I love hearing from the regulars now. It's a thrill to open the box and see familiar handwriting on the backs of postcards and the fronts of envelopes. A stomach-flipping-over joyous rush of yay.

And then there's this different kind of jubilation, a rarer occurrence: new handwriting. A stomach-flip-flop of Who's this from? Glance at the postmark. Be tempted to skip over the writing, straight to the bottom, find the signature ... but No. Read it. See if you can detect the writer through his or her words. Do you hear her voice? Is there something familiar in his message? 

There always is. It's like a Magic Eye picture in words, slowly coming into focus, and if you don't rush to the ending, if you don't spoil the surprise, you figure out who wrote the card before getting to that last line.

And that gives you a kind of thundering roar in the belly, not unlike applause.

(Thanks for the roars, ladies.)

From Sally:
Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival.

From Sherry:
"The Be Bop Boy and his One Man Band."