Ok, ok, you get the picture. It must be Valentine’s Day.

I was inspired by Kristen’s Puddle of Love blog to write a “love-blog” of my own. Her picture, and her comment about “finding love at the weirdest times and in places you never imagined” reminded me of a random unexpected experience of love that I had. It was during a walk on the beach at Homer Spit, Alaska, this past summer.

As I was enjoying the gorgeous scenery during my stroll, I would occasionally look down at the rocks on the beach. I wanted to collect a few rocks (ssshhh, don’t tell anyone) to take back to My Love back home. He has a wonderful rock collection that was started by his grandparents as they combed beaches all over the Northern California and Oregon coasts, and I wanted to bring him back some rocks from the Alaskan coast.

Out of the thousands upon thousands of rocks on the Spit that day, I glanced down at this one particular rock…yup, it was shaped like a heart! I just had to take a photo of it. Don’t ask me why though, but I did not take this rock home with me. I now wish I had, but oh well. It is now there for someone else to randomly feel the love.

I have also purchased a few polished stones shaped like hearts from various places during my travels to give to My Love, such as these.

Oh, here is one other blog that I previously wrote about hearts and Valentine’s Day, Heart Art.

Sweet Travels, and remember, Love Is All You Need!

Well, it is not really a technique, but an art form. Well, it is not really an art form either. But it is a way of proving that you are somewhere, especially when you are traveling alone and no one is around to take your picture at some particular fabulous location. Or, even if others are around, taking pictures of your feet can be fun anyway.

Here is a small photographic journey of my shoes and feet. Note that occasionally, my youngest sister was with me on a travel adventure, so her feet are included as well.

The Piazzas and Squares of Europe make for a scenic city backdrop to my feet. These photos of my walking shoes are in Siena, Italy (sorry for the bad exposure), and Tallinn, Estonia, respectively.

Rushing rivers while hiking make for scenic outdoorsy backgrounds for my feet. Here my hiking boots are shown along the Savage River during a day-hike in Denali National Park in Alaska, as well as on a three-day tramp (“hike” in New Zealand terminology) on the Routeburn Track.

Beaches and the ocean are perfect places for footsie portraits. My bare feet are relaxing on this beach in Falconara, Italy. My sister’s feet and mine are gazing at the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Iceland.

More outdoor locations include looking down at my hiking boot while backpacking on the Wonderland Trail of Mt. Rainier, and showing off the crampons on our feet when my sister and I were taking a walk on Solhelmajokull Glacier in Iceland.

Grass is another pleasant place for a picturesque foot snapshot, such as this one in Hyde Park in London, with my black walking shoes.

And finally, the Galapagos Islands make for a variety of bare feet photos.

So next time you feel like you need an image of yourself to prove that you are somewhere, or if you just want a different type of picture for your photo album and to show all your friends, you can always take a photograph of your shoes and feet!

Sweet Travels!

All photos of my feet Copyright Debby Lee 2009.

I’m talking about the much-valued mailbox. And while the exterior shape of it is meant to prevent the collection of water and snow, the interior shape is meant to collect incoming mail. And when that signal flag is up, it informs the postal carrier that there is something outgoing.

In 1915, a U.S. Post Office employee, Roy J. Joroleman, designed this familiar curbside mailbox to save time for the delivery of mail. You see, during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, prior to the use of any type of mailbox, believe it or not, postal carriers actually had to deliver mail to homes by knocking on doors and waiting patiently for someone to answer. And when I say patiently, it has been noted that each postal employee actually lost 1.5 hours each day just waiting for the door to be answered. (A bit unproductive, I’d say. If I had an hour and a half idle time, I’d probably be fired…)

Over time (but before 1915), mail slots in doors or in walls of homes were at least cut into place, so that if someone was not home or unable to answer the door, then mail could be delivered. This resolved the idle time, but it did not resolve everything.

Apparantly there was still an issue of taking time to walk to homes to deliver the mail, especially in rural areas, where they were some distance from the street. (How far, I really don’t know.) In addition, some rural residents had no public mail delivery at all and actually had to pick up their mail at a post office located sometimes miles from their homes. (Interesting facts that I did not know before my research on mailboxes…)

Finally, Mr. Joroleman’s curbside mailbox design was put into practice, especially in those rural areas. Now no more idle time or walking distances. Although, for some reason, some farmers and rural homeowners decided that they wanted to use bushel baskets, tins, and wooden boxes in which to collect their mail instead of the new-fangled mailbox. They seemed to resist purchasing these mailboxes. (I am not sure why, though. Was the cost too much? Or perhaps the custom back then was making due instead of buying new? Or maybe they just wanted to recycle?)

However, in 1923, eight years after Roy’s innovation, it actually, really, truly became mandatory that every house have a mailbox or mail slot for the delivery of mail. (Wow, I did not know that…) I guess that meant no more bushel baskets, tins, or wooden boxes. (I wonder what would happen these days if someone didn’t have a mailbox? Would they be fined?)

Ok, so now you probably know more about facts and history of the mailbox than you ever knew before, and you are really wondering where I am going with all this. Not too far really, other than to show you the mailbox pictures that I took while I was in Alaska with my sister this past summer.

While traveling around, I got into one of my “photography obsessions” where I become enthralled with taking pictures of the same object over and over, such as The Windows of Porvoo and The Homes of Skagway.

These mailbox photos were taken on the highway between Anchorage and Denali, as well as on the various roads of the Kenai Peninsula. While I am not sure what originally caught my eye, I became intrigued by the rows of mailboxes as we drove by. I am sure that I have seen zillions of mailboxes in my life before, but for some reason, perhaps because I was on vacation, I noticed these mailboxes.

I must have stopped a dozen times to take pictures, carefully pulling off the main roads, sometimes onto gravel side streets, not only to photograph entire rows of mailboxes, but also of clusters of two, three or four, and then of individual boxes. It is these individualized pictures that I liked the best. I appreciated the creative decorations that some people put on their mailboxes, as well as the various colors, sizes and shapes.

I believe that the mailbox has been a symbol of joy and fun for people. It seems important to everyone, as we all go to check our mailboxes everyday. (Except, of course, for Sundays.) I know I like to going to the mailbox to get the mail. And while getting the bills, and junk mail, aren’t necessarily a favorite, mail is definitely a way of giving and receiving tangible communication with family and friends.

The Alaskan Flag

Needless to say, though, today there is a more popular way to send and receive mail, especially the communication. Hopefully though, email will never completely replace the iconic mailbox. Thank you, Mr. Joroleman.

Sweet Travels!

All photos Copyright Debby Lee 2009 (some photos altered to exclude names and street numbers)

Facts and History of the mailbox, courtesy of Wikipedia