Australia Postcard

This beautiful riverside scene in Victoria, Australia, is from another new friend I met through Instagram.

We arranged a 10 person swap and it's been great fun since then! :)

Beautiful stamp!
Thanks very much, Em! :)

Minnesota Boundary Waters Postcard

Another recent arrival from Cat & Rubber Chicken!

This serene scene is MN Boundary Waters, a 1 million+ acres wilderness in extreme northeast MN. It is popular for canoeing and fishing, and is one of the most visited wilderness areas in the US.

Thanks very much, Cat & Rubber Chicken!

Äkäslompolo, Finland Postcard

The next card from Jaana shows the beautiful autumn landscape of Äkäslompolo. This is a popular place for cross-country skiing and Alpine skiing in the winter.

Ha! Not sure what's going on there on the stamp. :D

Thanks a ton, Jaana, for the gorgeous card, and for finding time to mail it while you were still there! :)

Winter Has Officially Arrived

Happy 2nd day of winter!

After winter, comes spring, which means only 104 days until St. Louis Cardinals 2015 season begins!  Woo hoo!

Peek-A-Boo Bear Postcard

:::::dusting off blog cob webs:::::
It's good to be back!

So anyway, I love animals. I love nature. I love humor. Put them all together and it makes for a GREAT postcard!

Jaana sent this super cool card of a bear seemingly playing peek-a-boo, or maybe it's just doing some tree hugging. Who knows??

I DO know that if I were to have an opportunity to snap a photo of something like this, it would be one huge thrill!

Matching bear stamp. :)

Thanks very, very much, Jaana!

Serene Winter Scene Postcard

I'm kinda missing winter already.
What's wrong with me?!

Squirrel Staredown

Squirrel and I had a staredown yesterday while s/he feasted on the food that I had put out for the critters.

It was great fun watching the squirrels scurry around and the birds zip back and forth, while waiting for the next round of winter snow to swoop in.

And it did, it swooooped in! What a winter this has been, so far!

Country Church

I had a nice drive today, through farmlands and on river roads of Illinois and Missouri. At one point, I spotted this church steeple rising above a corn field and framed nearly perfectly in an opening of a tree line, with thick forest in the background. I didn't need to turn down the road to see the entire church building, just seeing the steeple gave me a peaceful feeling.

Wintry Postcards

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I'm looking forward to spring, but I'm not really ready to let go of winter, either. So, this peaceful winter scene was timely. It was sent by Marion in Germany. I should probably keep it handy to look at in August when it's 100F in the shade.

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Well, it was bound to happen. I think this is my first official Postcrossing Touchnote card. I'm torn on the Touchnote controversy. I got this one from Svyatoslav in Russia. I like the picture on the front, but nothing on the backside thrilled me.
 

Back side of Touchnote card.

My Favorite Squirrel, Part 2

                                    I thought the left chair was his favorite, apparently not.

My Favorite Squirrel

 I was watching 4 squirrels scurrying around in the snow today.

 I, then, decided that my favorite squirrel of the 4, was the one willing to sit and dine on the corn that I leave out for them.

 This chubby little fella was so busy eating, he didn't seem to mind me snapping his picture.

 By now, you're thinking what does this have to do with postcards and road trips? Nothing! Which makes it the perfect post to close out the year. :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Snow Geese

I was cruising along in central Arkansas very recently, as in today, and noticed a massive, MASSIVE flock of birds swirling their way down to the ground.

It was quite a sight!

As I got closer, I saw that they were geese, Snow Geese, in fact. (Actually, it may or may not be a fact. I'm just taking a google-inspired guess, :) )

The main digs for Snow Geese are in cold places, like Alaska and Canada. But, they aren't stupid, they head south to warmer climes for the winter. Thus, their appearance in Arkansas.

I, literally, had only a few seconds to snap some pictures as I drove by...but, the magnificent images have stayed in my head all day!

Blue Heron

I love spotting and watching wildlife, especially when I'm not even looking for it. I was viewing a beautiful sunset recently, and noticed this lone blue heron standing in a nearby, ugly, under-construction lake bed.
 The muddy lake bed was instantly transformed into a scene of beauty and peacefulness simply because of the lone blue heron, it's reflection, and the sunset's reflection on the water. Amazing.

Outgoing Postcards

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Sent to iDaniel in Russia.
No text in his profile, just a photo of a smiling young boy, so I just took a guess as to what he might like.

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Another card to Russia. Ludmila likes nature scenes, so I chose to send her this close-up of Ozark Water Lillies.