Penpals - A Lost Art

There really is nothing better than getting a letter or card in the mail. So often we are so busy that we forget the pure joy of opening a card that someone hand-picked for you or reading a letter that was written for your eyes only.

When I was in grade school, I had a pen pal. I wish now that I had not lost touch with her. She was in another country and we exchanged many letters, learning all types of things about each other that would not have been shared otherwise. I came across some of these letters recently, filed away in an old box of school keepsakes. I re-read several of them, holding them to my heart after I finished and relishing the written words on the pages. In these letters as children, we shared our hopes and our dreams. We wondered about our futures, we wished wondrous things for each other. We talked about siblings, our family, our schools, what our future husbands might be like and many, many other subjects.

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I wonder what her family looks like now, how many children she had or did not have. How her life has turned out? Was she successful? Did she become a teacher like she wanted to or did her life take her down a completely different path?

Reading her letters made me want to reach out to someone, anyone and start a new mail chain. Reach out and touch someone the way she and I touched each other and made our large worlds seem smaller in some way. We were oceans away from each other, but every time I got a letter from her the distance seemed to fall away like she was right next door.

In our electronic age, we are dehumanizing and forgetting how to simply reach out and touch someone with the caress of our written words. We are forgetting how to personalize things and make them expressly for those you care about. I often told my fiancé, now husband of almost 20 years, that I would much rather get a handwritten note from him, even just a few sentences. Something like that means so much more to me than flowers or candy or any gift he could give me. Often the best things in life cost very little. A stamp still is less than a dollar today. Stop now, today and write something to someone you love and put it in the mail to them. I promise it will make a big difference.

Questions and/or comments are welcome. 

Have You Ever Struggled?

A post on facebook of a mutual friend a few days back made me stop and really think about how much of life is a struggle in some form or another. Everyone has different things that they struggle with, many on a daily basis.

Sundays ~ Day of Rest

Today is Sunday, a day of rest. This is what I have heard all my life and what I have been told. I am not sure who gets to rest though. Maybe those who are watching football or catching up on their favorite books or tv shows.

A Survivor’s Story, there is Hope – Domestic Violence Awareness Month October 2013

I am a survivor of Domestic Violence. It took me a long time to finally be able to say that or even type it for that matter. Why even say or type it you ask? Because it is important for those who may be in that situation now or may become victims know that people do survive. It is important that we share our stories so that others may open their own eyes and see if there is abuse in their relationships. Or even see that it is happening to a loved one. I hid it from my loved ones for years. It took me years to come to terms with what happened. Some of it was shame, some anger and some was just plainly not admitting it to myself. Sweeping it under the rug like it did not happen does not solve anything.

Rainwater Harvesting: What is a Dry System?

There are a few types of Rainwater Harvesting Systems. I expect that there will be more variations as we learn more in the future. In a nutshell, a Dry Harvesting System takes water from one downspout on a partial roof area of the catchment surface. A catchment surface is most often a roof. It can be any type of roof: on a home, on a barn, an area over a bench to shield from water. Any surface that can be guttered can effectively harvest rainwater.

Due to the Government Shutdown …

Many things are being affected by the Government Shutdown. The end or the far reaches of this cannot be fathomed yet. It probably will not even be all bad.

So far I have heard both doom and gloom and rejoicing alike. Might be good to see what programs we can do without. However we are forgetting that all our government officials in office are still getting paid are they not? I have a feeling if this had all been tied to whether they got a paycheck, there would have been no shutdown.

Rainwater in Toilets: Why Use Drinking Water if you Don’t Have to?

With the seemingly never ending drought here in Texas, water conservation is an important means to preserve our potable water supply. This means getting super creative with how we use water. So why are we settling for using good, clean drinking water in toilets? Since it is the norm we go about our day not even thinking that there might be an alternative.