Postcards from the Edge

I have begun to participate in a web site project called Postcrossing.   It was started a few years ago by a gentleman named Paulo who happens to live in Portugal.  The general premise of the site is random folks sending real postcards to a random person somewhere in the world.  Its just that easy!  How you say?  Well, the best I can figure out is that there is a random person generator that goes through the quarter of a million members and picks on out at your request.   For beginners like me, you get to have 5 traveling the world at any one time.  As soon as one of your cards is registered, then your eligable to get a card from someone and you can send another one out.  It truly is that easy!  So far I've received cards from Taiwan, the Netherlands, Estonia, Singapore, Poland, Finland, and the ol' US of A.
The even better part is that I have been able to send my own creations.  The postcards that I have created with the prompts from Sunday Postcard Art are now being backed with a heavy weight cardstock from The 2Buds which turns your photos into postcards!    Now, not everyone appreciates getting self designed cards, so I am on the hunt for postcards from my area to send to those people.
There was a time when snail mail was the norm and you received much more than advertisements.  Real handwritten letters would come telling events of the day.  Postcards from friends on vacation gave you a glimpse of fun on the road.  Those cards and letters that were treasured by family have been replaced by sterile email.  Even the humble postcard is becoming a thing of the past and in some cases a collectors item.  I am finding myself looking forward to the daily delivery of mail, going through the stack looking for a little something from somewhere in the world.
Mail has become exciting again.