Discover National Parks

Tags

buildings, National Monuments, National Parks, nature, North America, United States

I have a wide variety of United States’ landmarks that I have been neglecting to post about, until now. So here:

Mt Rushmore, South Dakota, monument to four of our nation’s presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. My mom sent me this postcard during our road trip, which was almost a year ago now. It is more gorgeous in a postcard than in real life, unfortunately.

Next is Fort McHenry, Maryland, the site of the battle in 1814 that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the lyrics to our national anthem. This card comes from Erin in France, who was visiting the USA last summer. She writes that Fort McHenry is the first place a new flag design is flown, which I did not know. However, I don’t think our flag has changed since Hawai’i joined the union fifty years ago.

Most recently, I received this card of Congaree National Park in South Carolina. This park is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, and the sender, Michael, included a special stamp of the celebration on the back. Congaree park protects the largest tract of old growth bottomland hardwood forest in the USA. The trees are some of the tallest in the Eastern United States.

Last but not least, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that covers parts of Tennessee and North Carolina. The park was dedicated in 1940. The Great Smoky Mountains are part of the Appalachian Mountains that run most of the length of the Eastern United States, from Maine to Georgia. The sender of this card, meand3boys, writes of watching the beautiful smoky fog rolling in over the mountains. The park also hosts a diverse range of animals and trees, and receives more rainfall than anywhere else in the States, except the Pacific Northwest.

Low Countries maps

Tags

Belgium, Europe, maps, Netherlands

I have two more country maps, and one region map, and they just happen to all be close together.

First there is this card of the Netherlands, from Peggy.

This is Belgium, from Sanne. My boyfriend was very, very excited by this card. He thinks it is the best map on a postcard he has ever seen, and he loves maps. He also thinks it is very well printed, which it is. It is a very good map and also postcard.

Finally, a map of the Black Forest region of Germany, but from a postcrosser in the Netherlands.

There are also new Dutch stamps for me to share:

The second stamp shows Queen Beatrix, who will sadly be abdicating in April. The sender used this stamp because of my request for royalty on postcards.

Sakura in Spring

Tags

Asia, Japan, nature

Today I had the happiest surprise on my walk across campus- the cherry trees have blossomed! I have been saving sharing this received card until I saw the trees burst into bloom:

This card comes via Postcrossing from Andrey in Tokyo. It shows the famous sakura blossoms in Tokyo, Japan. Spring is the time for the delicate pink blossoms to cover the trees and announce the true arrival of spring. I know that cherry trees will be blooming all over the world this time of year: in Tokyo, in Washington DC, here on campus, and probably even the weeping cherry tree that I planted in my parents’ backyard many years ago is alive with pink and white flowers.

Though spring has sprung, it’s still chilly here in Oregon, so to warm up, you could pretend to cuddle with the teddy bear on this card’s stamp:

What’s your favorite part of spring? Do you like to see the cherry trees blossom, or the daffodils poke up from the ground, or maybe hear the birds return to sing?

Penguin march

Tags

animals, Australia, Austria, Europe, Oceania, penguins

Two more penguin cards for my penguin card collection!

Penguins from Australia, via Postcrossing. This Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor) is the smallest of all penguins and is only found in the waters around South Australia.

These penguins are Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti). They are medium-sized penguins, native to South America, although these penguins live much farther north in Austria, at the Vienna Zoo at Schonbrunn.

I hope these waddly little birds gave you a smile today.

Dubrovnik revisited

Tags

buildings, cities, Croatia, Europe

I had already received a nice card of Dubrovnik, Croatia, but then Antonella (AKA antich) sent me two more.

Dubrovnik is a town on the Adriatic Coast in southern Croatia. These cards show the old walled city which dates from medieval times. Antonella used these stamps:

The first stamp shows the Hemaris croatica, a small moth that lives in the Mediterranean area. The second stamp shows the Castle of Eugene of Savoy, which was built in the 18th century. Thanks, Antonella!

Olomouc and St John of Nepomuk

Tags

churches, cities, Czech Republic, Europe, religion

In addition to collection certain types of cards, like UNESCO cards or owl cards, I also like to collect certain series of cards, like the Fauna of Belarus. Or I can combine the two, like with this series of Czech UNESCO cards!

Both cards come from Jana in Pilsen. The first card shows the Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc. It was erected in the 18th century during a revitalization of the town after the Thirty Year’s War. It is 35 meters high and covered in intricate religious sculptures.

The second card shows the Pilgrimage Church of St John of Nepomuk. It was also constructed in the 18th century. The church is dedicated to St. John of Nepomuk, patron saint of the Czech Republic. He lived in the 14th century. He died by drowning, and therefore became a saint associated with protection from floods. The church is remarkable for its architecture, particularly its incorporation of the number 5.

Jana used a fanciful stamp depicting doves delivering letters around the world:

 

That’s all for today!

Benjamin Franklin Stamp Club

Tags

North America, Pennsylvania, United States

My Mom sent me this card from the “Benjamin Franklin Stamp Club.” It shows a specially cancelled stamp from 1984:

The stamp shows the White House and its architect, James Hoban. It looks like the cancel shows the Pennsylvania capitol dome with a background of the outline of the state of Pennsylvania. I am not sure what that has to do with the White House, since the White House is not in Pennsylvania, although Hoban was a resident of Philadelphia for a while.

My Mom found this card while cleaning out the attic. A quick search online reveals that the Benjamin Franklin Stamp Club was a program by the US Postal Service to encourage young people to become involved in stamp collecting. The Clubs were formed and met through elementary schools. Given the age of this card, I would guess that it was my sister who was part of the club, as I would not be born for another 7 years after this postmark.

Robben Island

Tags

Africa, buildings, South Africa

Sandra in South Africa has sent me my first UNESCO cards from that country, or in fact, the whole continent of Africa. They depict Robben Island:

Robben Island is 6.9 kilometers west of Cape Town and has served as a prison since the 17th century. Many of South Africa’s presidents served time here during apartheid, including Nelson Mandela, Kgalema Motlanthe, and the current president, Jacob Zuma. The island housed mostly political prisoners, but was also a quarantine station for animals and a leper colony. The lighthouse was installed in 1864 on the highest point on the island; the area was a peril to ships in the area before the lighthouse.

Sandra delighted me with some beautiful stamps:

I like this series of stamps showing artistic beadwork.

Thanks, Sandra!

Kiev, Ukraine

Tags

churches, cities, Europe, religion, Ukraine

I received two cards from Kiev, Ukraine, showing similar but not the same churches:

This card comes from lazy_rabbit. It shows the Architectural ensemble of Mykhailivskyy, which according to the card was rebuilt in 1999 after originally being built in the 12th century.

The next card was an official Postcrossing card from a student named Oksana:

This is Saint Sophia’s Cathedral, which has been on the UNESCO list since 1990. Work started on the cathedral in the 11th century. The cathedral is named after the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, not after a particular saint named Sophia. The cathedral was the burial place for the Kievan rulers.

Oksana used very nice stamps on this card:

I like the triangular one best of all, because I like non-rectilinear stamps.

German foxes

Tags

animals, Europe, foxes, Germany

Foxes are another animal that I love to see on postcards. Two foxes come to me from two German users on the Postcrossing forum.

First is the rotfuchs, or red fox, from Svea. Red foxes are the largest of the foxes and are widespread in the Northern Hemisphere.

The other fox is this Polarfuchs, or arctic fox, from Steffi. Arctic foxes are much smaller and have much more fur and fat to keep them warm. The arctic fox is also numerous, but not as widespread as the red fox, since it only lives in polar regions. The red fox has been imposing on the arctic foxes’ domain as the climate gets warmer and polar regions get smaller.

The stamps on both cards were new to me:

That’s all for now!