Alongside my reading this month I have been pursuing a correspondence challenge with the aim of getting me back into more regular letter writing and keeping in better touch with old friends and colleagues. In the past I have undertaken the Month of Letters Challenge, which I have featured on Landing Tales to record both my own progress and letters received in return. That certainly goes back a few years as I first did that in 2013. In recent years I have followed my own personal February letter writing ritual as a way of marking my late father’s birthday in this often bleak month. He was a postman until his retirement, so it seems appropriate. It also fills the gap left where I would have posted his birthday card as part of my Month of Letters Challenge. Now I have named my letter writing burst as ‘Postie’s Letter Challenge’ and I am hoping to make it through to the end of the month, posting an item each day.
The cards sat on the mat…
" data-orig-size="2536,1600" title="Display of cards received in the post." data-image-title="My Letter Haul" data-orig-file="https://talesfromthelandingbookshelves.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/466.jpg" data-image-description="A selection of my ‘Month of Letters’ replies from various recipients. Very colourful and cute!
" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"","camera":"FinePix J10","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1362523618","copyright":"","focal_length":"6.2","iso":"64","shutter_speed":"0.016666666666667","title":""}" width="300" data-medium-file="https://talesfromthelandingbookshelves.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/466.jpg?w=300" data-permalink="https://talesfromthelandingbookshelves.com/2013/03/08/lettermo/466-2/" alt="Letters and cards received in the post." height="189" class="wp-image-1308" data-large-file="https://talesfromthelandingbookshelves.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/466.jpg?w=640" />The cards sat on the mat…I have been toying with the idea of joining the Handwritten Letter Appreciation Society as I have been following them since well before Twitter became X. I like the idea of supporting keeping a letter writing tradition alive. The only snag is that I have to confess to not always writing by hand (but don’t tell anyone). I type letters to my mum in a larger point size for a practical reason, since she finds it much easier to read. I suppose I don’t have the same excuse for abandoning pens when writing to other people, but I blame the email habit for corrupting my good intentions. Perhaps using email so much has also contributed to the sad decline in my handwriting neatness. I have declined since my schooldays when my handwriting was praised for neatness. I have flirted with calligraphy in the past, which I rather enjoyed, so perhaps I should take it up again to improve my writing skills. Or, I can continue to claim that my handwriting is ‘artistic’ rather than untidy.
In the meantime, I will continue my personal challenge using a mixture of typing and handwriting and keep focussed on the end of the month. If I get any replies in kind, I will let you know.
