Mindful Ramblings

Postcrossing Favorites

Posted by jlsgrant in Geography-ish on December 11, 2010

I’m back with a new edition of Postcrossing Favorites from around the world. These have been chosen from the postcards I have received since my last Postcrossing post:

Favorite Building/Structure:

This postcard was received from Xander, who is six years old! (With a little assistance from Mom, I think!) It is a picture of Atomium, which was built for the 1958 Brussels World Fair, in Belgium.

Favorite Scenery:

This place has always intrigued me! I was so excited to receive this postcard from Mesut in Turkey. In Turkey, they say “Merhaba” for “Hello”. Here is a picture of Cappadocia! This place is said to have been occupied by the Hittites from 3000 – 2000 BC, and then much later by early Christians who were fleeing from the Romans! What an amazing history!

Favorite Multi-Scene:

From Esther, who is 23 and studies English Language, Literature, and Film. This cards shows a few cathedrals and castles from the historic city of Zaragoza! The four scenes shown are that of Aijaferia, Vista Aerea Del Pilar, Murallas Romanas, and the Plaza del la Justicia.

Favorite Art:

Kirra sent me this card all the way from Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia! She recently visited there when she was on holiday. This Aboriginal Rock Art is known as Algaihgo, or Fire Woman. It can be found at Kakadu National Park.

The Aboriginal art collection found at this park is one of the world’s greatest collections of rock art. The park encompasses over 20,000 square kilometers!

Favorite Cultural:

Who doesn’t love the wooden shoe? Although, I’m pretty sure I would not enjoy wearing them! Barbara says “Hallo” from Holland. She has two goldfish and two big red crazy cats, both named Jansen! Did you know there is a Legend of the Wooden Shoe?

Favorite Animal:

Veerle from The Netherlands says “Hoi” when she greets a friend. What’s not to love about this little guy?

Favorite Backside:

The back of the postcard can be more interesting than the front! Interesting stamps, messages, and handwriting make each card special.

Hannah, from Taiwan, included stamps of a different kind on her card. One rubber stamped image is from Li Mei-Shu Memorial Gallery and the other is from San Hsia Tsu-Shih Temple. Check this out:

If you would like to participate in Postcrossing, click the button in my right margin to get more information.

Disclaimer: No compensation of any kind has been received to promote this endeavor! I participate just for the fun of it! 🙂

postcard collection, postcrossing

Simple Gifts Sunday: Simple Folk

Posted by jlsgrant in Life Lessons/Inspiration on December 5, 2010

It’s not often that you encounter strangers that just give you that warm fuzzy feeling inside. You know, the ones that make you just want to say, “Now dem is some nahce folk!”

I mentioned in my Autumn Walk post, that on our recent trip up north, we met an old gentleman who was taking his elderly Auntie up the mountain to see three states. She had never seen the view before and never had the opportunity to travel. Just simple folk….from the area.

As we were making the trek up to the observation point, the kids leading the way, I heard a sweet old voice say, “Are you girls lost?” (I laughed to myself, since one of those “girls” was most definitely NOT a “girl” and looks NOTHING like a “girl”.)

When they got to where we were, they stopped to chat “fer a spell”, as if we were long lost friends! I knew I would like her, just from her smile. She said, “I bet you lahk to clamb the heel, don’t shu? I lahk to clamb the heel! Does he lahk the clamb the heel?” Then she told us a story about when she was a little girl and she’d climb up on the roof of the barn and throw sticks down on the tobacco!

After several minutes of wonderful stories and conversation, I remembered that the cellphone I held in my hand had a voice memo app! I quickly fumbled for the record button, with no malicious intent! I just wanted to record these great stories about days gone by. We listened to it several times during the day and it made us smile.

Now…sit a spell and take a listen: