POSTCARDS

I've always loved receiving postcards and have kept them from as long as I can remember in an old chocolate box. I didn't consciously start to do that, but it seemed such a shame to throw them away when someone had taken the trouble to send me one and the pictures transported me to places I had never seen, so I liked to look at them from time to time. I can remember in the Fifties when I was a little girl getting postcards from a great uncle and aunt who had ventured as far afield as Spain (that was a long way to travel in those days) and they sent me several postcards with flamenco dancers depicted on the front with real material tiered dresses. Whether the postcards were from within the UK or abroad, I still liked to keep them. Over the years, I must have gathered hundreds

Recently I got to thinking that people don't seem to send postcards any more.  With email and wifi, we seem to be more into electronic contact these days. Kay, just for example although not to single her out, will text or email or Skype from wherever she is, but she doesn't send a postcard. It's a real shame as a postcard is a visual reminder of what happened whilst away and can still be looked at in 20 or 40 years time, where an email or text most probably won't stand the test of time. Also, I know I can google an image of the place someone is visiting to get an idea of what the place looks like, but it is not the same as that postcard dropping on my doormat, having come hundreds and often thousands of miles to get to me.