Once upon a time we sent vacation postcards to friends and family back home. Now we’re all back home on (working) staycations and everyone else is far away. When the pandemic hit, I began sending postcards to older friends from synagogue. Due to the risks of communal living during Covid, their worlds contracted suddenly and drastically.

It surprised me how much fun it’s been and how much people enjoy recieving them.  A postcard allows me to pen a quick hello, I miss you, how are you? I love choosing beautiful images to share and get a shot of pleasure imagining my recipients’ smiles when they arrive. Who gets mail anymore, right?

When I ran out of my stash, I began making them. Sometimes I create abstracts on larger sheets of cardstock and then cut them into 4 x 6 cards. Other times I paint or collage something small on an individual card. You don’t have to be an artist to do this. You just have to have a sense of fun and let the good feelings you have for your recipient come through. For a treat I bought a box of 100 flower-themed postcards — ten cards by ten different artists. A true garden of good wishes waiting to be given. I’m working my way through the box, planting a bit of joy with the help of a 35¢ stamp.

She might be too strange to send, but I had fun painting her.

postcard credits, above: Debra Darvick
l. to r.: Adam Rodriquez; Loretta Montagnar; Maud H. Purdy.