Postcard: Dragons

Our first postcard from The Dalles came back today!  The artwork is by Jesse. This time the boys really wanted to try doing the entire postcard on their own, including the address.  They're at a point where that bit could go either way--clear and readable, or utterly confusing (we just got Jesse's letter to his San Antonio cousin returned last week because the poor postie couldn't read the zip code, and neither could I!)

But this postcard came back to us just fine, and it had a fun little note on the back.

The note says:  Hello!  I am from a small town called the Dalles.  The Dalles is in Oregon.  I think this postcard idea is a good one, so you can learn about others.  

Sincerely,
Milo [redacted]
age 12

Milo, thanks for returning our card!  I've removed your surname for safety.  In case you don't know, "redacted" is a legal word that means "this part was removed for security reasons."  

We love your name.  It's the name of a character from a favorite movie (Atlantis!), and also of a little black dog we had once.

And you're right--we learn neat things about other people doing this project!  Thanks for writing to us!

Postcard: Pine needles

Sometimes the cards we get back return to us with fun notes or comments...and sometimes they just return.  We're happy either way, though we love the notes.

In early May, I went with my mother-in-law to San Antonio so she could cuddle her 52nd grandbaby, a little boy born after three adorable little girls.  I had such fun making postcards with my little nieces Lily and Sadie!  I left the postcards with them to hide in their own library the next time they went, and I'm super excited for their pretty drawings to make their way back to me (and then back to them!).  It could happen any day now, because yesterday we got the first return from San Antonio: one of mine.

Library feature: The Dalles Public Library

One thing we want to do here (but have been terrible about) is keep a better record of the libraries we've visited.  From my first visit to the Twin Falls Public Library with its cement lions guarding the door, I've loved these places.  Of course, there's the books.  But there's so much history and creativity and culture in the development of American libraries, and every library has its quirks, eccentricities, and little-known secrets...

Like The Dalles.  (The Dalles itself just begs to be researched.  How many cities are there that begin with a definite article? And what are dalles, anyway?)  We stopped at The Dalles Public Library on the way home from a trip to the Oregon Coast, and learned some neat things about it.

First--it has some fun artwork:

Bears on a log.  More on these later, but aren't they adorable?

This appealed to my calligrapher's heart.

A puffin.

 The bear sculpture outdoors sits in the middle of a big deck shaded by a London sycamore tree that was planted in about 1870.

Once, the bears were stolen.  I can only imagine how the librarians and patrons felt to see them gone. What a loss.  And then, just as suddenly--they were returned.  The whole thing remains a mystery.

Like many across the country, The Dalles Public Library is a Carnegie library.  And like many Carnegie libraries, it has outgrown its original building.

The original Carnegie building.

The current building.

Spacious first floor, with more around the mezzanine upstairs.

One of this library's biggest claims to fame is that it's at the end of the Overland Trail and is a repository for many local genealogical records.  Genealogists come for pilgrimages here, to pore over old documents.

There's also a geocache hidden here.  As in--IN the library!  (Note to self:  Find that handheld GPS or buy another one!  The boys are the perfect age for geocaching.)

Another fun thing we loved--the library has "check-out sketchbooks!"  Blank bound books are among the holdings here. Patrons can check one out, look at drawings by patrons who have checked them out previously, then add a sketch or three, and return them.  Annually the library has judges look through the sketchbooks and award prizes, and there are plans to make a book featuring the winning sketches.

How absolutely cool is that?  

Postcard feature: Brick Path

This postcard is from the June 2012 Helena series.  If you've ever been to Helena, Montana, you may recognize the brick pattern!  I love that part of town.

This postcard came back to us years ago, before we had a blog on which to keep track of our project. The finder wrote us a wonderful note with some great questions.  I'm hopeful that we can get a message to her that will enable her to finally find this blog and get her questions answered!  She wrote:

July 4 2012

Hi, I'm Keely and I'm from Helena, Montana.  I found this lost post card at the Lewis and Clard library in a book called, Child of the Mountains.  Even though I don't know who you are, and probably won't get the answers, I have a few questions for you.  1.  How did you get it to Helena? 
2.  Did you put it in a library book?  3.  Why did you do this?  So those are my questions, even though I don't expect to get any answers.  Sorry it took so long I kinda forgot about it, and is ther more than 1.  
Sincerely, 
Keely M.
[street name]
Helena, Montana.

At the time we got your note, Keely, we had a contact in Helena, a schoolteacher, whom I hoped would be able to help us find you.  But as you know, Helena's a big town, and she didn't know you. However, today I'm going to contact the Lewis and Clark Library.  I'm hopeful that someone there will know who you are and be willing to tell you to come to this blog and get your questions answered.  The answers are:  We often visited Helena for a while because of our husband and Dad's work, so we put the postcard in a library book while we were there.  We got used to calling the project "Lost Postcards" even though technically that's not correct; they're more like left-behind-on-purpose postcards.  We do it because we like art, and postcards, and mail, and libraries, and people. There's more information about that in our first blog post and our blog description. And yes, there were more than one--in fact, we placed 10-20 postcards at a time in the library there several times over a couple of years!

Thanks for the wonderful questions and note!

Postcard feature: Monsters

In packing for a trip to San Antonio, I found a Ziploc bag among my things that had several Lost Postcards in it.  Yeah, I'm disorganized.  But what a fun surprise!  The cards were mostly returns from Helena--the Jan 2012 series, the June 2012 series, and the March 2013 series--with one stray postcard from the Hayden Jan 2012 series. That would have been the same trip--Helena for work, with a side trip to Hayden to see our second eldest son.

There were some fun postcards in this little baggie!  I'll start with this one from 2013:

It's one of mine, inspired by the boys and their favorite movie of the time.  I'm pretty sure this was the trip where I finally caved and bought some movie players for the car at a pawn shop!

The finder said:

Hope you are having a great fall so far-I found this in a library book in Lewis & Clark Library in Helena.  My 4 1/2 year old lvoed the purple monster's feet.  Thanks for sharing the monsters with us!  Susan Murray
P.S. Check out my teen book review blog-- www.youngpeoplesbooks.blogspot.com
Well, how can I resist a 4 1/2-year-old who loves big feet, or a Mama who has a book review blog?  I went to the blog, sent a note, and got an address, and Susan's girls and I exchanged some very fun pictures of monsters! We connected on Facebook and I've enjoyed her girls' antics (and sense of style!) ever since.

Thanks, Susan, for returning our postcard and for the trust!

More from this baggie to come...

mejaka

Postcard feature: Bird and blade

 A postcard came back from Portland this week!  The artwork is Jesse's; to be honest, I'm not sure what it is, but he's in bed already because we had a very long day yesterday when our car broke down on a mountain road in the middle of nowhere.  Between that and Daylight Savings, the boys needed an early night.  But it looks like a bird and blade to me.  (Does it?  Or is my own exhaustion showing?)

This postcard had a most unusual and interesting note.  The finder wrote:

I found this postcard inside a book my teacher gave me to read.  I'm 64 years old.  I have started school from the 1st grade now I'm @ the end of the 3rd grade.  I have dyslexcia I'm improving my reading please respond when you receive this card.  Thanks  Kenda

We will absolutely be responding!  And here, we'd like to say that no matter your age, learning and growing are good things!

(Note:  We scrambled the area with the address!)

Postcard feature: Let it snow!

Another postcard this week! This one came back to us from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where we left it over a year ago.  The art is Jonno's, and boy, was he excited to have one of his cards come back today!

We've had a long, snowy winter here, but today was springlike.  I'll just say--"Let it snow!" was great a few months ago, but it's not my sentiments today!

The finder writes:

Put in the Lost & found at C d'A Public Library, Children's Dept!  Let's send this on its journey!  Merry Christmas & Happy 2017!

Thank you, kind finder!