COVER N. 522 - FINLAND

Postmark: Lempäälä 37560 Posti 08.10.2024 

Posted on the 8th October; Received on the 15th October 2024

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A very carefully treated cover received in a protective bag.  Kiitos paljon, Esko! 

 

I can imagine that in such a northern latitude, the Sun and its warming light assume an extra importance that us, in the south, have always taken for granted. 

Thus, it is fitting that "The Glow of the Sun" be the theme chosen for a two se-tenant priority stamp set issued on 11SEP2024, one of which can be seen on the cover, illustrated with a nice sunset with some flowers on the foreground.

The second stamp on the cover was also issued on 11SEP2024, included in a five stamp set dedicated to popular Hobbies. Frisbee golf is the sport highlighted by the image in the stamp, the four other hobbies selected for being featured in the stamps being Hobby Horse Riding (quite an uncommon sport, if I may say so...); Trekking; Freeclimbing and Postcrossing.

COVER N. 521 - FRANCE

Postmark: Bureau Philatélique of Lyon Bellecour - 07.10.2024 

Posted on the 7th October; Received on the 10th October 2024

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Operation Dragon, such was the codename for the landing on the shores of the Cote d'Azur, which was conceived to be executed at the same time as operation Neptune, the landings in Normandy, so as to apply pressure on the German occupiers with a set of huge military tweezers squeezing from both sides. 

In practice, Operation Dragon would only come to be more than two months after Neptune, (which began on the 6th June 1940) on the 15th August, for the sheer scale of the operations imposed logistic limitations that had to be taken into consideration.

As a result of this operation, the liberation of important cities in the south of France, like Marseille, Lyon or Dijon, was achieved and by September the American and French combined forces coming from the south would join the allied contingents advancing from the west and finally progress into Germany, finally liberating France from the Nazi beast, one would have tought forever...

Un grand Merci, Eric pour ce splendide bloc!

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Provence landings La Poste issued on 14AUG2024 the souvenir sheet Eric used, comprising a single 1,96€ stamp, illustrated with several French soldiers (some from the African Colonies) looking  across the Mediterranean towards the soon to be liberated cities of Toulon,  Marseille, Lyon and Dijon, the last three represented by their imposing cathedrals, featured on the souvenir sheet.

Postmark from the Bureau Philatélique of Lyon Bellecour.

Postmark from the Bureau Philatélique of Lyon Bellecour.

COVER N. 520 - FRANCE

Postmark: Bureau Philatélique of Lyon Bellecour - 07.10.2024 

Posted on the 7th October; Received on the 10th October 2024

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Canadair…. On first look it may sound strange, but the noun formed by juxtaposing a distant country’s name and the place wherein everything undulates, everything exists, as Mario de Sá-Carneiro, the famed Portuguese Modernist poet once put it, is a summer household name for the south of Europe.

Forest fires…. a consequence of climate change and  mismanagement of forest but also of natural causes or not so natural devious minds fuelled by the pleasure of seeing everything gown down in flames…..

Every year my country is plagued by this reality and the situation only tends to get worse for indeed climate is changing fast and the summers are getting hotter and drier with each year that passes. All it takes is a spark, and huge expansions of forest are decimated, property and life put at risk. The current year was one of the worse, with almost 150 thousand hectares of land affected by fires, with the loss of 9 lives, direct of indirectly due to the fires, not to mention property and  the horrific impact on fauna and flora.

Aerial means like helicopters, airplanes and drones are irreplaceable in their role as first line fire-fighters, and for large forest fires like the ones we unfortunately have to deal with, heavy water bombers are really a much needed tool.

Enter the Canadair, in its several guises: 215; 415 and now 515

Conceived in the 60s of last century right from the start as a water bomber by Canadian concern Canadair (which would in time be incorporated into Bombardier) the original type, the twin-engined 215, first flew in 1967 and was produced between 1969 and 1990. It has two 1,400 litres water tanks which can be discharged simultaneously or individually or in sequence, and be filled rapidly by means of rotatable scoops that direct the water into the tanks while the plane moves across a large body of water like a lake or a reservoir.

Introduced in 1993 and produced until 2015,  the CL415, has an improved water tank capacity, of up to 6,140 litres and more powerful engines, but it too has been superseded by the new DHC 515 (DeHaviland Canada now holding the manufacturing and development rights) of which the first units are now being built, with again an improved water tank capacity of up to 7,000 litres.

The Canadair, as the mighty workhorse will be forever known irrespective of manufacturer or type, has more than proved its worth with the Civil Protection bodies of several countries and I’m am very pleased to know that Portugal will finally have its own Canadair fleet (2 aircraft) by 2029, after years and years of contracting services and relying on the help of the European Mechanism for Civil Protection.

The contract for the acquisition of the two DHC-515 to be delivered in 2029 and 2030 was signed on the last 18^th June, both aircraft being paid for by Portuguese and EU funds, under the RescEU Programme. The two aircraft will be operated and maintained under the responsibility of the Portuguese Air Force, and they will be stationed at the Ovar Air Base, in the north of the country.

France has been an operator of the Canadair since 1967, first with a fleet of CL215 and nowadays with 12 CL415 which are based at the Sécurité Civile base of de Nîmes-Garons.

Their importance within the European Civil Protection Mechanism is quite relevant and I, for one, am thankful to France and the EU to have had more than once French Canadairs (or Pélicans, as they are also known in France) helping to dramatically quench forest fires here in my country. Merci, la France, Merci l’Union Européenne.

And Merci Eric, for this beautiful cover featuring the 1,16€ stamp issued by La Poste on 05JUL2024, dedicated to the Canadair of la Securité Civile, illustrated with a painting of a CL415 doing what it does best.

 

I love the care Eric had in composing this cover with the beautiful mosaic of Marianne Stamps (6 x0,10; 2 x 0,01 and 1 x 0,05 €) from the  23JUL2018 issue, so as to complete postage.

Postmark from the Bureau Philatélique of Lyon Bellecour.

COVER N. 519 - BRASIL

Postmark: ACC Beira Mar Shopping Florianópolis - SC 19.09.2024 

Posted on the 19th September; Received on the 3rd October 2024

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I love the stamps on this Portuguese speaking cover. O meu muito obrigado, Lucia; os selos são lindos e uma boa forma de lembrar os laços inquebrantáveis que unem os nossos dois países.

Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral will be forever remebered for several achievements,  in the field of aviation and geography, the most famous of them all being the courageous first South Atlantic aerial crossing operated in the East to West direction, in 1922.

I've talked about this crossing and the stamps celebrating its centenary in the post pertaining to cover #172, so I'll just refer that the two 2.35 reais stamps illustrated with the image of the Fairey IIID (of which three were needed to complete the flight), the portrait of the aviators  and the Portuguese "Cross of Christ", to this day the insignia of  both the Helicopter Squadron of the Portuguese Navy and of the Portuguese  Air Force, are part of a se-tenant set of three, issued on 01AUG2022.

The remaining two stamps are part of the definitive sets, issued between 2005 and 2011, dedicated to Professions. The shoemaker, (0,20 R$) is part of the first set of three stamps issued on 30DEC2005, while the Manicurist, (1 RS) belonged to the second set, comprising two stamps, issued on 06NOV2006.

The Postmark indicates that the letter was mailed from a post office installed in a shopping mall - Beira Mar Shopping - in the city of Florianópolis, the Capital city of the State of Santa Catarina in the south of Brazil.

 POSTCARD N.166 - PORTUGAL 

Postcard sent on the 1st October, received on the 4th October 2024

Postcard image: Almada landmarks

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World Postcard Day began to be celebrated in 2019, thanks to the efforts of the guys behind the Postcrossing platform who thought that the 150th anniversary of the postcard - whose history, I read, began in Austro-Hungary - could be the perfect opportunity to start a tradition.

Ever since that year, World Postcard Day has been making its way into postal administrations special cancelation marks programmes and  I always make sure I post a couple of postcards, both on and off postcrossing, to some friends here and there, not forgetting, of course, to send one to my own self.

So here's what I sent me this year: a postcard with some landmarks of the municipality of Almada, wherein I live.

Left to right:

The monument of Christ the King.

Inspired by the Christ monument of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, it was inaugurated in 1959. The statue, conceived by sculptor Francisco Franco de Sousa, has an eight of 28 metres and sits atop a 75 metre high pedestal, designed by Architect António Lino.

On the top of the pedestal further to the base of the statue there is an observation deck from which you get a fabulous 360 view of Lisbon and its surroundings on both banks of the river.

The mermaid 

Located at the entrance of the local shopping mall, I could not find any information regarding its author.

The 25th April Bridge

Linking Lisboa on the north Bank to Almada on the south bank of the Tagus, the  2,277.64 m long bridge, which nowadays serves both road and rail traffic, was designed by thge United States Steel Export Company and was inaugurated in 1966.

Os Perseguidos (The Persecuted)

A bronze sculpture by  Anjos Teixeira, inaugurated in1979, honouring all those that were persecuted during the years of the dictatorship.

The Cacilhas Ligthouse

The Cacilhas lighthouse was installed in 1886 in the Cacilhas dock, on the left bank of the Tagus. It is 12 metres high and it was decommissioned in 1978. It was re-implanted in a slightly different position as a public monument in 2009, after a spell in the island of Terceira, Azores, (1983-2004) where it replaced for the duration the old lighthouse of Serreta. 

Theatre Joaquim Benite

The second largest theatre hall in Portugal, the blue theatre as it is also known, was designed by architects Manuel Graça Dias, Egas José Vieira e Gonçalo Afonso Dias and is home to the Companhia de Teatro de Almada, one of the main Portuguese theatre companies, responsible for the famed  Festival de Almada, one of the most important European Theatre festivals.

The World Postcard Day cancelation mark, on a 0.65 € stamp of the set Vessels of the Portuguese Merchant Navy, issued on 29MAY2024, illustrated with an image of the liner Serpa Pinto, built in 1914 as the EMS Ebro, she served with the Portuguese Companhia Colonial de Navegação  from 1940 to 1955, when she was finally scrapped.

POSTCARD N.165 - PORTUGAL - R.A. AÇORES

Postcard sent on the 13th September, received on the 4th October 2024

Postcard image: the Seven Cities lagoon in S.Miguel island

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Another postcard sent me by The Phantom, from his recent stay in the Azores. This time from quite a special place: the Lagoa das Sete Cidades. Danke Sehr, Alex!

The Seven Cities lagoon is one of the many natural wonders of the Azores. It is a lagoon created by the  collapse of the walls of an ancient volcano thus forming a 2 x 4,2 km caldera whose 30 metres deep waters are separated by a narrow canal with a bridge thus forming a blue lagoon on one side and a green one on the other.

Legend has it that the colours of the waters of the lagoon are due to the tears of a shepherd and a princess who were madly in love but could not be married due to the differences in their social standings. The shepherd had green eyes and the princess blue, and they cried so much that they filled both sides of the lagoon with their tears....

In truth, the green is just the reflection of the forest trees that surround the green side, while the blue is the reflection from the sky, but I'd rather stick to the other explanation, if you'd ask myself....

Alex used a N20 (Domestic 20g) self-adhesive definitive stamp from the !st groups of definitives dedicated to Portuguese numismatics, issued  on 22APR2020, illustrated with the image of an Asse, a Roman bronze coin, from dating from the II-I centuries BC, this particular specimen having been found in Alcácer do Sal, a town on the banks of the river Sado, and one of the oldest European ones, having been founded by the Phoenician earlier than the year 1,000 BC.

The Postmark hails from S. Roque, a parish of Ponta Delgada, the Capital of the Administrative Capital of the Azores Autonomous Region, located in the Island of S. Miguel.

COVER N. 518 - SRI LANKA

Postmark: Headquarters P. O. Colombo Mail 10.09.24

Posted on the 28th September; Received on the 3rd October 2024

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A circuit from Sri Lanka with a few more stamps from the Boy scouts and Girl Guides issue that was the theme of cover #484. Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravindra!vindra!

The Scout movement was, as it is well known, the brainchild of Sir Baden-Powell, who in 1907 oriented a first encampment for young boys in the Island of Brownsea, with 20 participants, in which he set the bases for what would become a worldwide movement aiming at the development of young boys and girls within a stong set of positive values.

Originally a boys only organisation, Baden-Powell would later found the feminine counterpart of the movement, the Girl Guides, in 1910 but things have slowly evolved and I believe that nowadays in most if not all countries both Scouts and Guides organisations  admit any children irrespective of sex to its ranks.

The three stamps on the cover are part of a ten x 50 Rupee stamp set dedicated to the Scouting Movement in Sri Lanka, issued on 21FEB2024.  The stamps have been issued both as a single mini-sheet with the 10 stamps or as 2 x 5 stamp souvenir sheets, one dedicated to Boy Scouts and the other to Girl Guides, the sheets being shaped cut in the format of both organisations emblems.