Life is the art of managing the unexpected, I guess.

No matter how routine based are your days, there will always be space within the twenty-four laps of the hours pointer (curiously twenty five, today) for surprise.

And this is a great thing in itself. Imagine our days being all the same, a routine check list of time, places and people. How uninteresting would our transit through existence be... how boring... even if shielded by material comfort. 

I am well aware that I am a lucky human. A vast majority of my equals has had to thrive from birth - and with all due probability to death -, with living conditions that cannot bear even the slightest comparaison with those I have always enjoyed. For these, mumbling about uncertainty and chance, would sound  futile and outlandish, to say the least, for their lives are daily determined by exactly such variables.

Still we all are entitled to our own little world. The one we frame, limit, define, even if uncounciously, around ourselves. And It is against its backdrop that, in general, our perceptions and expressions are built upon and/or expanded as we unfold the history of our days, time and time again, following the march of the seasons, and the rotation of our planet.

And chance, the unexpected, has once again, intervened in my small world: a couple of days ago, while going through one of my most pleasure driven routines, my early morning walk, I was hit by chance: I stupidly slipped and took a nasty fall which resulted in a fractured fibula and the need to undergo surgery in the very near future.

For this reason I will be interrupting, for a longish while, I presume, the updating on this blog, which I will turn back to as soon as conditions allow It.

Untill then, I will still be eagearly waiting for the telltale sounds of a bike idling by my door and the flap of my letterbox being pushed back down...

That's one the  things I look forward to every day; the time to say "Thank you, Mr. Postman!"

 My National Covers

Every now and then I have the opportunity to add what I call a "National Cover" to my collection.

These are nothing fancy. In fact they are but covers that I print  at home with the flag and coat of arms of a specific country and which I then either send to a fellow collector who is willing to help or give to friends or family or take my own self whenever travelling abroad, in the hope that these might find a way to a local post office to get a stamp and a postmark.

I will be adding these to a new "My National Covers" section in this blog.

If you don't see your country here and are willing to help me add your own country's national cover to my collection, please email me at pnsoares1@gmail.com. 

You'll get a cover from Portugal (if you want I'll be happy to print a Portuguese National Cover just like the ones I print for myself, although in a somewhat larger envelope) and a printed envelope with the relevant symbols printed, so that you can then return it to me.

Thanks a lot.

Note: Whenever possible I will try to transcribe the flag and coat of arms information from the relevant national site. Failing that I'll transcribe from Wikipedia.

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 Republic of Estonia  /Eesti Vabariik 

The Flag

The state flag, which is also the national flag, is rectangular in shape, divided into three horizontal bands of equal size. The upper band is blue, the middle one is black and the lowest band is white. The proportions of the flag are 11:7 and its normal size is 165x105 cm.

The blue-black-white flag was first consecrated at Otepää on the 4th of June, 1884, as the flag of the Estonian University Student Association. During the following years the blue-black-white flag became a national symbol. The Provisional Government of Estonia adopted a resolution on the 21st of November, 1918, proclaiming the blue-black-white flag the state flag. The Law on State Flag was adopted by the Parliament (Riigikogu) on the 27th of June, 1922.After the forcible annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union in June, 1940, this flag was banned.

In 1987/88, during the days of the "singing revolution", or the process of regaining independence, the blue-black-white flag was used openly as a national symbol. On the 24th of February, 1989, the blue-black-white national flag of Estonia was flown from the tower of Pikk Hermann.

The blue-black-white flag was re-adopted as the state flag on the 7th of August, 1990 and the Law on State Flag was passed on the 6th of April, 1993.

Source: Symbols

The Coat of Arms

The Estonian coat of arms comes in two formats, a large one which shows three blue lions, passant gardant, on a golden shield framed on each side by gilded branch of the oak tree with the stems of the branches crossing at the base of the shield. The small shield is identical except for the gilded branches.

The design of the shield originates from the XII century, when the Danish King Valdemar II presented the City of Tallinn (Reval) with a coat of arms similar to that of the state of Denmark, showing three lions. A similar motif was transposed to the coat of arms of the Province of Estonia, which was adopted by Catherine II, Empress of Russia, on the 4th of October, 1788. The Parliament (Riigikogu) of the Republic of Estonia adopted the state coat of arms on the 19th of June, 1925. After the forcible annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union in 1940, this coat of arms was banned.

The use of the historic coat of arms as the state coat of arms of the Republic of Estonia was re-adopted on the 7th of August, 1990. The Law on State Coat of Arms was passed on the 6th of April, 1993.

Source: Symbols

The Stamp

The cultural, sociological and public health role that saunas play in society in Baltic and Scandinavian Europe is well documented and recognised, their use being a relevant and widespread tradition in the countries of the aforementioned regions.

One would think that all saunas are created equal, but that is not the case and according to regions and countries there may exist slight differences in modus operandi and even in attendance rules.

One of the idiosyncratic types of sauna is the Estonian Smoke Sauna, which has its most famous expression in the region of Võromaa, so much so that it was recognised as  Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity  by UNESCO,  in 2014.

This particular type of sauna differs from others in that the sauna house has no chimneys, so that the smoke may be kept inside, while the sauna is heating (without any people inside, of course). 

Excess smoke will flow to the outside through smoke shutters all trough the heating process, which can take up to six hours. One hour before the use, the house will be ventilated so that the smoke goes out and people might come in to enjoy the heat and humidity while whisking themselves with soft branches of trees with foliage, so as to increase circulation and sweating.

As usual, all finishes up with a quick rub in the snow outside, of course.

One curiosity about the smoke sauna is that it can also be used to smoke meat (no, not one's own, but some good pieces of ham...) 

Since 2021, Esti post has been running an annual one stamp issue series dedicated to "Great estonia Things".

The 2023 issue, in the form of the 1.30 € stamp in the cover, was issued on 25AUG2023. Being dedicated to the Estonia Smoke Sauna, it features a marvellous illustration of a smoke sauna wooden cabin and the legend "Head Eesti asjad  - Suitsusaun" (Great Estonian things - The Smoke Sauna).

The Postmark

Unfortunately, the mechanical cancellation is almost illegible, although it is possible to read "Esti Post" on the base of the circular mark.

 Once again I have to thank my dear wife for managing to include a "search for stamps and mailbox" activity line in her always busy schedule.

COVER N. 647 - SRI LANKA

Postmark: Headquarters P. O. Colombo Mail 10.10.2025  

Posted on the 10th October;  Received on the 22nd October 2025

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Ravi kindly sends me pieces of sky.... and I, for one, unlike Astérix, am not afraid that the sky will fall on my head... Bohoma Sthuthi, Ravi!

"The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself", thus spoke Carl Sagan, in the book that literally opened up (even if just slightly, for such is its dimension) the universe to a lot of us, me included, the curious kid who would not fail to watch the week's episode of "Cosmos" on TV.

At the time, the 80s of last century, when instead of typing www, you'd flip a page with the tip of your index finger,  National Geographic was also publishing covers with never before seen details of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, taken by those wonderful pieces of mankind named Voyager 1 and 2.

And what a discovery that was....who could ever forget the first shots of Jupiter's eye, that big red spot in the planet's atmosphere, for instance?  I pity I could never show them to my grandfather. Maybe like that I could try to convince him that yes, Man had walked on the moon, something he had most serious doubts about....

Today, images like those have become almost common place, such were the developments in technology of the last decades that have made it possible to photograph the solar system and beyond with a level of detail that is hard to imagine (who would have thought that it would be possible to photograph a black hole ????)

And yet, every time I look at one of those images I feel humbled, reduced in existence, as if dissolved in some cosmic fluid, the same fluid that binds us, the entire universe, together.

Yes, the cosmos is within me; yes, I am star stuff... we all are!

... Although, due to our transient nature, that stuff is more of the "shooting"  type than of the "wandering" category....

On 25SEP2025, Sri Lanka Post issued a minisheet comprising 10 x 50 Rupee circular stamps, entitled, "The wonders of the Universe", featuring many of the outstanding photographs of celestial bodies  that at some point have awed us in their uncommonness and beauty.

Four of  these stamps can be seen on this cover, illustrated (left to right) with marvellous photographs of  the colourful rings of Saturn; The great red spot on Jupiter, the Open star cluster of the Pleiades, and the Orion Nebula. 

As usual with Ravi's mail, the cover is postmarked from Colombo's Main P.O.

 Sometimes all it takes is asking.

In these days of everything digital, it can be a bit of a pain to wriggle up a decidedly analogical mind to work its way out of a technological doubt.

How the hell do I do it?

The interrogation pops up time and time again when, for a pressing reason, I am compelled to delve into the mysteries of computers, their intimate body parts or their intricate language (see how analogic I am?) .

I can be a bit of a stubborn beast when these things happen. I will go and try, and try, and try again.

Still, the first step I take is always untutored: conjuring up  all my faith in my “over par”  knowledge, abilities, capacities, capabilities and skills, I go down all the alleyways I might thing viable to solve the problem at hand.

This, of course, 9.5 / 10 times results in utter defeat. The problem will remain unsolved and, as usual, I will be humbled by the weightless wall of reality that will descend upon me.

Next step: go ask google and youtube, the voice within orders.

And so I do.

And this might produce results. In fact, comparing with the above approach, I would say that it would improve things a solid 50%.

But, then again, some tutorials are either too technically minded, too long to browse before you find any lead that you can follow that you think might be a viable way of approaching the problem, or simply you go through all of it (text or video) only to find that your question remains unanswered.

That, in itself, might not be a bad thing, if you are musically minded, of course – go ask Charles Ives – but most times it is just another easy path to frustration.

And then there’s the last resort.

And the best of all

For it is also the simplest.

Go ask someone who knows how to do it!

This option, by comparison with the other two I’ve mentioned, raises the success rate to the inverse of that of the first approach I always try.

Teachers, formal or informal, are vectors of positive infection, they are the yeast that knowledge needs to ferment, they can be chain reaction starters!

And we all are teachers, for we all know things that others do not.

Where the line is drawn is on one’s attitude, one’s willingness to share the knowledge one carries.

For knowledge is, as financiers say, “an active” and as such can be traded for money, influence, position…

Or it can just be given away,

Like most teachers are always willing to do, provided you ask.

So I never forget to say “Thank you”, when someone has helped me solving a question that might have proved too difficult for me to solve without the benefit of  the help of someone who already knew how to do it.

And it is so easy, sometimes. All it takes is asking!

P.S. I finally found out how to put links in a comment thanks to the help of Eva, the keeper of  the Mail Adventures blog

COVER N. 646 - USA

Postmark: 2026 Boston World Stamp Show First day of Issue,  August 14, 2025 Shaumburg IL 60194  

Posted on the 20th September;  Received on the 14th October 2025

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What a nice cover! Not only the stamps are truly beautiful but also the cancellation is remarkably uncommon. Thank you so much Geoffrey. Truly appreciated!

I think the first book I read by James Michener was "Centennial", published in 1974, as the United States of America was just two years away from celebrating the 200th anniversary of its independence from the English crown.

I must have read it in 1977-78, or so. If you asked me now, of course, I do not recollect the details, but I vividly remember the fact that the story spans millennia, from the formation of landmasses to what was then present day USA.

I liked the book so much that I went on to read a few more of Michener's hefty books like Hawaii or Chesapeake, all following the same  pattern of  setting the main plot against a hugely long time frame, thus enabling the reader to get him/herself immersed into a vast backdrop of historical and even scientific information that was one of the things that I found quite enthusing about his novels. 

50 years have passed since then. Half a century. I am quite older, haven’t touched a Michener book in decades, and the USA is about to celebrate 250 years of independence, on the 4th of July, next year. 

Ironically, as I type, the TV is full of images of the millions who took yesterday to the streets to reaffirm the principles laid down in the Declaration of Independence, this time around not to a foreign king, but to an internal wannabe one..."the enemy within"?

I digress....

One of the events that will be directly linked to the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the American Independence will be the "World Stamp Show", which will take place in Boston, Massachusetts, between 23 and 30 May.

USPS made excellent use of the occasion to issue a couple of terrific in-taglio printed "Forever" stamps than began to circulate on the 14th August, drawing on the attention of philatelists and public at large to the forthcoming philatelic show.

According to USPS, the stamps, which when closely analysed exhibit a very fine 3D appearance, were created as replica vintage engravings so as to celebrate the stamps issued in the 19th and the early years of the 20th century, and they are illustrated with images of  the Old North Church, which is oldest church building in existence in Boston, as it appeared during the American Revolution, and of a  “Midnight rider”  galloping with a lantern in one hand, so as to light his way.

These are both symbols of the American revolution for lanterns in the bell tower of the  Church, there placed momentaneously, at the request of Paul Revere, on the night of April 18, 1775, warned patriots of the movements of the British troops.

Paul Revere himself was one of  the "midnight riders" (and the most famous of them all), evoked in one of the stamps, these being patriots dispatched to warn fellow revolutionaries of the whereabouts of the British troops, prior to the first battles of the American revolution: Lexington and Concord, which took place on the 19th April.

The postmark is decidedly unusual in that it is digitally printed over the stamps in two colours, blue and gold, with the 2026 Boston World Stamp Show legend superimposed over the same midnight rider image that is present on the stamp. All in all quite neat!

Postage was completed with a couple of definitive stamps from a series themed on fruits, started in 2016.

The 5 Cent grapes stamp was issued on 24FEB2017, while the 10 Cent pear stamp is a 2017 reprint of the  original, issued on 17JAN2016.

COVER N. 645 - FRANCE

Postmark: La Poste 08.10.2025 

Posted on the 8th October; Received on the 14th October 2025

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Once again I am visited by Monsieur Gustave Eiffel, the man who conceived wrought iron structures which went well beyond their functional purpose, for monumental masterpieces, art icons, they were.

M. Eiffel has already featured on my humble blog a propos cover #228 but I have to say that I quite like the way the envelope of this particular cover is embellished with a "stuttering" souvenir sheet which works a charm, from a composition point of view.

Un énorme Merci, Daniel!

 

Since all I said about Eiffel on cover #228 still holds, of course, true, I will not elaborate more on the life and deeds of this most famous French Engineer, but I'll register again the fact that the in-taglio one 1,80€ stamp souvenir sheet issued on 27MAR2023, on the occasion of the centenary of Eiffel's death, is a true masterwork of philatelic art, with all the intricate detail present not only on the engineer's portrait that occupies most of the stamp but also in the reproductions of the iron lattice works of the Eiffel Tower, the Gabarit Viaduct and Nice's Observatory cupola, that grace the souvenir sheet frame.

Another thing that I can't help but notice when inspecting the envelope is that the price of a base tariff stamp  for the  international service in France has gone up almost 17% since 2023.

To make up for the 80 cent difference, Daniel used a label of that value affixed on the back of the envelope, so as not to conflict with the beautiful layout on its face.

One final note to mention that the  postmark does not include any information regarding the place of expedition.

COVER N. 644 - KYRGYZTAN

Postmark: ? 24.07.2025 

Posted on the 24th July; Received on the 18th August 2025

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I have just noticed that I forgot to post a cover I got from the wondrous wanderer, The Ghost that Walks, my friend  The Phantom, I received back in August, mailed from Kyrgyzstan.

Better late than never, they say... Danke sehr, Alex!

In 2005, quite a few Postal Administrations issued stamps celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first CEPT/EUROPA stamps, and what I find quite remarkable is that many of the countries that issued these celebratory sets were not even part of CEPT or Post Europe.

Kyrgyztan is one such case, and on the cover Alex sent me we can see three of the six (15; 20; 25; 45; 60; 85 som) stamps issued on 29DEC2005, celebrating this fact.

As a side note, I should mention that the stamps were issued in perforated and imperforated versions, the latter being used on the cover.

The Kyrgyz issue highlighted "50th anniversary of the first EUROPA stamps - The great silk path - The first link between Asian and European Cultures" as can be read on the legend on top of the stamps, to the right of the CEPT logo.

Each of the stamp is then illustrated with a landmark of the silk road . Left to right we have:

The Uzgen Minaret, dating from the 11th century, this minaret located in Uzgen, a town in the Osh region, is built in bricks and stands 27.5 metres tall;

the Acropolis, Athens, not technically a silk road location, but very relevant to the formation of an European identity, Athens is represented by its most famous landmark, the Parthenon at the Acropolis, dating from the 5th century BC.

The Kolossi Castle, at Limassol in Cyprus, built in 1454 on the location of an earlier 13th century infrastructure.

And yes the castle is ok, but really impressive is the 200 + years old  Rosewood tree that lives in its yard.... absolutely amazing.

The Postmark of the  Kyrgyz Pochtasy SE - one of the two postal operators of Kyrgyztan - was issued at the town of Osh.