POSTCARD N.82 - USA

Postcrossing postcard sent on the 15th June; received on the 24th June

Postcard image: The Webb Farmhouse of Meadow garden, Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania, USA 

______________________________________________________________________________

Thank you so much Stacey for a lovely postcard with interesting stamps on it.

I had never heard of Longwood gardens before, and this beautiful postcard prompted me into investigating what lay behind the beautiful brick house that stands amidst what seem to be  a fallow field. 

And so I gathered that the very colonial looking property was built in the 1700 on land bought from William Penn,  included in the nothing short of huge territory Penn got from King Charles II as payment from a debt of the latter to the father of the former.... those were the days and the native Indians of the Leni Lenape tribe who had claim to the land for hundreds if not thousands of years were eventually evicted, but that's another history...

The new owner of the land  was William Webb who built the house in 1734-35, which would serve as homestead for the Webb family, whom I presume derived their income form agriculture, for several generations.

Meanwhile, in 1798, on adjacent fields who had also been bought from Penn by a quaker named George Pierce, a 15 acre arboretum with species both native and imported from abroad was being carefully created by the grandsons of Pierce.

Works of love such as this magnificent opus, firmly rooted on the personal interests of  someone, can only thrive if supported by equal interest and will from those that will continue them, but these, unfortunately,  are  prone to wearing off  from generation to generation. And that's precisely what happened to the arboretum which, in the turn of the 19th into the 20th centuries, was showing the signs of neglect and abandonment to the extent that, at some point in history, its owners were on the verge of having all the trees cut by a lumber mill operator for timber.

Enter Pierre du Pont, a member of the well established Du Pont family, who had the vision and the money, and so the parcel of land was bought in 1906 to save the important arboretum.

Overtime  Du Pont, would develop what he would christen as the Longwood gardens, a vast garden park in the original property that he would increase in area through the acquisition of several adjoining properties, including the one on which the Webb farm house stood.

The property is nowadays managed by the Longwood Foundation, established by Pierre S. Du Pont in 1846 to ensure the future of his beloved gardens and is considered to be one of the world's most important botanical parks.

Stamps, left to right:

"Additional Ounce" stamp, issued on 24JAN2021 with the image of a brush rabitt (Sylvilagus bachmanion) it by the USPS. The stamp was issued so as to cater for the increase in postage from 15 Cents to 20 Cents of first-class domestic letter mail.

Also issued as a non-denominated Forever domestic stamp on 14JUL2021, this colourful stamp invites the beholder to decipher the phrase spelled by the individual letters on each of the coloured squares and which aptly reads "More than meets the eye".

Forever domestic stamp, issued on 19JUL2019 as part of a two se-tenant same value stamp set, commemorative of the 50th anniversary of man's first landing (or should I say "mooning") on the moon. The stamp is illustrated with a picture of  Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, on the lunar surface, taken by Neil Armstrong, whose image can be seen reflected on the visor of Aldrin's helmet. The companion stamp shows an image of moon with a yellow spot marking the area of the first landing (oh... that doubt, again....): Mare Tranquillitatis, or the Sea of Tranquility.

POSTCARD N.81 - GERMANY

Postcrossing postcard sent on the 19th June; received on the 23rd June

Postcard image: The Krefeld Port on the Rhine, Uerdingen district 

______________________________________________________________________________

Germany is one of the countries in the world with more registered postcrossing users, so it comes as no surprise that of all the postcrossing postcards I get, a good deal comes from the land of the fabled October Fest.

That was the case with this postcard with a view of the port of Krefeld, for which I have to thank Anna.

The Rhine river is a real waterway as far as navigation is concerned. the second longest river in central Europe after the Danube, it crosses the central part of the continent in a South/North trajectory. I took a look at a map of the port system on the Rhine, and in between  Switzerland, where it begins its journey, in the Swiss Alps, France and  Germany, there are 18 main ports on it, before it splits into the lower Rhine and the Waal, on its way to its estuary on the cost of the Netherlands, where it finally meets the Northern sea.

The  Krefeld port was inaugurated in 1906 and, in 2009, it processed 5.5 million tons of cargo, a figure that quite illustrates the economic importance the port plays for the North Rhine-Westphalia region that it serves as an import/export interface.

stamps, left to right :

On 01MAR2018, Deutsche Post issued a two stamp set with face values of 0,70€ and 0,90€ in a lovely souvenir sheet dedicated to the famous creation of Charles Schulz, The Peanuts,  that first saw the light of day in 1950 and would go on to be published until the 3rd January 2000, in newspapers all around the world. The 0,90 € stamp on my postcard features some of the main characters of the series, (L to R: Sally Brown, Lucy van Pelt, Snoopy, Linus van Pelt and Charlie Brown), while the 0,70 € is illustrated with an image of little Woodstock and Snoopy.

The 0,05 € stamp is part of the "World of the letter" definitive set, issued on 02_DEC2021. This set is composed of 5 stamps with 0,5€; 0,85€;  1€; 1,60€; 2,75€ denominations, respectively illustrated by images showing letters as lotus flower; bird; ship; kite and boat by lighthouse.

The machine applied cancellation includes the vignette  "Gemeinsam Gegen Corona sich selbst und andere Scützen..." (Together against Corona, protect yourself and the others...)  that began to be machine applied on correspondence in Germany on the 1st June 2021, although it shows a different rectangular format than the previous square format I was familiar with, no doubt indicating the use of  a different postmarking machine model.

POSTCARD N.80 - HUNGARY

Postcrossing postcard sent on the 15th June; received on the 21st June

Postcard image: Senta, Serbia
______________________________________________________________________________

 rather different postcard, to use an apt characterising word. Thank you Szabó, for the opportunity of adding another country to the List.

Szabó tells me that although the postcard was posted from Hungary, the image on the front of his homemade circumeconomic postcard is of  his hometown of Senta, in the north of Serbia, a city of around 20,000 inhabitants which has this most amazing art noveau town hall building that is featured on the very small vintage photograph on the postcard that also contains the city's  coat of arms.

Built in 1913-1914 as the main administrative and commercial centre of Senta, the building has retained it's administrative functions and incidentally houses the local post office, so I read.

 

Stamps, left to right:

On 05MAY2021, Magyar Posta issue a  definitive stamp set  comprising five values (Belföld; Belföld elsőbbs; Európába; Belföld ajánlot and Európán kívülre, that is to say Domestic; Domestic priority; Europe; Domestic 2nd class and Outside Europe) themed on Postal history artefacts. My stamp is the Europe tariff and it shows a 19T truck from Magyar Posta.

A postcrossing stamp on a postcrossing postcard is the bee's knee! Hungary is one of the countries that over the years had issued stamps celebrating the brainchild of a fellow countryman - Paulo Magalhães - created in 2005 and that at the time of writing has 802,726 registered members in 206 different countries.

Hungary's Postcrossing stamp was issued on 02FEB2018 as a single stamp set with a face value of 120 Forints and it depicts  my good old friend Mr. Postman doing his delivery round.

The  postmark lets us know that the postcard was mailed from Hungary's capital, Budapest.

COVER N.128 - ITALY

Postmark: Naoniscon Pordeno de Games & Comics 33170 Pordenone S. Caterina - C 08.05.22
Posted on the 5th June; received on the 20th June 2022
__________________________________________________________________________________

The first interrogation this nice cover motivates is "What is this nice postmark about?" Thank you so much, Ivan, you managed to spur my curiosity again!

Games, video games and board games. These days and especially since  Manga and Anime Comics began to become a global affair, there seems to be  an ever increasing connection between games and comics, so much so that games convention are now games and comics conventions where cosplay also takes an important place.

I have to confess  today's mainstream comics are really not cup of tea, (There's a limit to how many super heroes one can take, right?). Yes, I know, I'm a square old fool, but for me there are but 4 or 5 super heroes: Batman and Robin; Superman; the Phantom; the Green Archer; and YES, the greatest of them all: Battler Britton or should I say Major Jaime Eduardo de Cook e Alvega, as the Royal Air Force Ace of aces was named in Portugal, where he flew in the pages of the weekly “O Falcão”,  and where he was even given Portuguese ancestry, as a tribute to our long standing alliance with the UK....

The thing today with super heroes is that they are mostly a by product of cinema special effects and vice-versa. Alvega, had no other superpower than his incredible ability to fly all the aircraft on the inventory and use them to down Messerschmitts 109s as  kids and adults alike nowadays down the irritating popcorn while the unlucky few who do care about what’s going on the screen try hard to concentrate amidst the special effects sounds of teeth munching and that lovely sound reminiscent of a visit to the dentist of coke being aspired through a straw…..

Anyway, by now I'm sure you have guessed that the postmark on the cover is a commemorative stamp celebrating this year's edition , the 25th - of NaonisCon - Pordenone Games&Comics, a games and Comics convention held in the city of Pordenone in Italy's northern region of Friul-Veneza Júlia, incidentally considered in 2020, to be the best city in Italy to live in, according to a raking established by ItaliaOggi and the University of  La Sapienza of Rome, so I read.

Two stamps on the cover:

The first ever Winter Olympics took place in 1924 in Chamonix, France. From then on, just like it happens with the summer counterpart, every four years, with the exception of a twelve year period due to the second world war, athletes from around the world would gather at a country chosen by the International Olympic Committee as the organiser of the Games. February this year saw the Olympic Flag being raised in Benjing, China for a 25th edition still affected by the ongoing pandemic and by the now usual boycotts that are so traditional, that the IOC should turn boycotting into an Olympic discipline in my humble opinion. 

The 2006 Winter Olympics were held in Turin, Italy. To celebrate the fact, la Poste Italiane issued on 08FEB2006 a 9 stamp souvenir sheet dedicated to the event, each stamp illustrated with a motive  representing one of the Olympic disciplines and the Games Logo.

The stamp on my cover is the one with the lesser face value of the lot (0,23€) and  is dedicated to the Biathlon, a discipline that brings together cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. the other stamps in the set are skating (o,45€); Ice Hockey (0,65€); Curling (0,70€); Bobsled (0,85€); Alpine Skiing (0,90€); the Olympic Flame (1€) and Tobogganing (1,30€).

Every Easter Sunday, at San Cataldo, in Sicily, a procession of 11 Sampaoloni, huge 3 metre tall figures of papier-mâché representing the apostles (Judas, the traitor is not given the honour of participating in the procession)  takes to the street to meet the resurrected Jesus, his holly mother and Mary Magdalene.

On 05JUNE2020 la Poste Italiane issued the self adhesive Tariff B (domestic, up to 20g) stamp on my cover, as part of the series "Le festività" (Festivities) dedicated to the festival of the Sampaloni of San Cataldo. The beautiful stamp is illustrated with an image of the procesion of the Sampaoloni while the clock tower of the Chiesa del Rosario (the Church of the Rosary) dominates the background.

COVER N.127 - PALAU

Postmark: ROP Philatelic Office Koror, PW 96940  03.06.2022
Posted on the 3rd June; received on the 21st June 2022

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Another exotic cover, from one of those less than common places - Palau! Thank you so Much Stephen! and also thank you for the funny cartoon  card inside.

Google Earth is a good friend. Many have been the times that I've used it to fly over destintions that, most unfortunately, I don't think I might ever get to know "in the flesh". Palau is one such place, and just from looking at the photos available on the photos layer, it really makes me wish I could go and visit... all those islands with their lagoons, pristine waters, breathtaking sights.... in the meantine, though,  I'll stick to looking at the stamps and trying to learn something from them :-)

14 Cent stamp, part of a twelve stamp definitive set issued on 12March 1987, dedicated to local flowers. The flower on this particular stamp is a Bikkia palauensis, one of the 10 species of the Bikkia genus, that is endemic to Melanesia and Micronesia.

Palau issued its first stamps in 1983, when the country was still a US-administered UN Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, having finally became independent in 1994 although under a Treaty of Free Association with the United States.

 

One of the first issued sets then was the one the 20 Cent stamp comes from, an eight stamp set issued in se-tenant form on 15DEC1983, celebrating the voyage of Captain Henry Wilson, a Captain from the British East India Company  who, on route from Macau to England wrecked his ship Antelope, in the island of Ulong, one of the  340 coral and volcanic islands of the Palau Archipelago. 

Upon returning to Engand, Wilson took with him Prince Lee Boo, the second son of the ruler of Koror, who quickly became the talk of the town, although he tragically died of smallpox with only 20 years of age.

The 20 Cent stamp is illustrated with an image of Queen Luddee, and although I could not find any reference to her I strongly suspect her to be Prince Lee Boo's mother. 

Rembrandt's "Portrait of a Young Man with a Lace Collar", is the well known painting illustrating the 1 Dolar stamp, part of a four stamp set issued on 16FEB2004, dedicated to treasures of the Hermitage, the famous Russian Museum of Saint Petersburg, which also comprises reproductions of famed paintings by Goya, Correggio and Velázquez.

As it happened with the other two Palau covers in my collection, the envelope is also postmarked with a machine applied cancellation from Honolulu, Hawaii, since I believe all the mail from Palau is processed via Hawaii.

POSTCARD N.79 - GERMANY

Postcrossing postcard sent inside cover #128 on the 15th June; received on the 21st June

Postcard image: a seascape
_________________________________________________________________________________

The scan does not do justice to the beautiful photograph on this postcard that Andreas sent me, inside cover #128.

Although there is no legend on the back of the card identifying the location in the image, I would suspect that the photo was taken somewhere in the coastline of the North sea, since Andreas tells me he lives not very far from it.

COVER N.126 - GERMANY

Postmark: Brifzentrum 28 BREMEN 15.06.22
Posted on the 15th June; received on the 201st June 2022

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Totaly unexpected  and as such even more appreciated was this rather nice cover from Germany I got from a fellow Postcrosser who not only went that extra mile to send me a terrific postcard (#79) inside an envelope, but,  being a stamp lover himself, he kindly used a full stamp set to create a nice cover to my collection. Thank you so much Andreas, provocations shall not go unheeded....

 

The Grimm Brothers wrote some of the most famous fables in western literature. Maybe it's the consonnance between names, but their plots were usually rather.... grim  to say the least and by today's standards surely not the type of  bedtime tale that parents would tell their little children ... still, generations of young children across Europe have been put to sleep while the entrails of bad wolves were dissected so that granny or the seven little kids could once again see the light of day. ...

It is precisely this last tale - the wolf and the seven little kids - that is central to the set of stamps Andreas so kindly used to mail his postcrossing postcard to me.

the plot is simple: mother doe leaves the 7 little kids at home and goes to work; the wolf tries to grab hold of the kids by mimmicking their mother; 1st and 2nd try unlucky, 3rd try he succeeds, but one of the kids hides and is not eaten, so when mother doe returns he tells her of the fate of his brothers and mother quickly opens the belly of the sleeping wolf  to liberate the poor kids, replacing them with stones, when the wolf awakens he's dying of thirst and goes to the well to drink, but he was so heavy from the stones that he tipped over and so long cruel wolf.....

´

Issued on 06FEB20202 the set comprises three stamps (80 + 40 Euro cents; 95 + 45 Euro cents and 155 + 55 Euro cents) all illustrated with scenes from the famous tale.

Of note is the fact that this is a welfare issue, a practice that has been carried out by German Post since 1949, with the value of the surcharge that is printed next to the stamp denomination being directed to social welfare institutions.

The machine applied cancelation tells us that the cover was processed in the post centre 28 of Bremen.

COVER N.125 - MONACO

Postmark: O.E.T.P (Office de Émissions de Timbres - Poste) Principauté de Monaco 08.06.22
Posted on the 8th June; received on the 20th June 2022

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Another fine and dandy cover from the tiny Mediterranean Principality. Thank you so much Roland.

It is quite evident that the cover went through a philatelic minded post office, given the neat way the marks were applied and the clarity of the marks themselves, all contributing to a very clean and "collectible" effect.

all three stamps used are beautiful creations, to my eye:

 0,10 € stamps showing  a pair of great tits - Parus major –  part of a most beautiful definitive set of 10 stamps (10€; 5€; 2€; 1€; 0,50€; 0,20€; 0,10€; 0,05€; 0,02€; 0,01€) issued on 01JAN2002, dedicated to Mediterranean Fauna and Flora. the illustrations include a plethora of wildlife, ranging from flowers to butterflies, and fishes and sea snails, all drawn with exquisite and delicate craftsmanship for in taglio printing.

0,75€ Euro stamp, part of a two stamp set dedicated to Mediterranean Fauna and Flora, issued on 08MAR2004 illustrated with an absolute gem of an image of  a Mediterranean tree frog (Hyla meridionalis). the other stamp on the in taglio printed set is again of a rather expensive 4,5 € stamp depicting an European Green Lizard (Lacerta viridis) .

The lovely little tree frog, which measures from 50 to 65 mmm long (females being bigger than males) can be found in the south of Portugal, Spain and France (and Monaco, of course).

0,05€ stamp, part of a 2 stamp set issued on 02MAY2017, dedicated to endogenous species. This stamp is illustrated  with images of the red coral (Corallium rubrum).

Corallium rumbrum one of the 31 species of the genus Corallium, was pretty common in the Mediterranean, but the effects of  trawling  and boundless harvesting for jewllery purposes have had a deep negative effect on the existing populations which are now largely protected and slowly recovering, although the warming of the waters brought about by climate change is a new threat the tiny creatures are having a hard time to deal with....

The companion stamp to this one on the set is a rather expensive 5€ stamp featuring the image of  a thick rooted campanula, (Campanula macrorhiza),  endemic to the western Mediterranean.

COVER N.124 - ITALY

Postmark: 52015 PRATOVECCHIO (AR) - C 08.06.22
Posted on the 8th June; received on the20th June 2022
__________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you Roberto, for another nice cover from Italy, with an interesting stamp.

Soccer, or should I say Calcio, or Futebol as we say... that thing that can turn a perfectly sound and normal human being into its absolute opposite.... matter of passion...? manifestation of our gregarious and tribal nature...? true love for sports....? stairway to heaven for some? black hole for others? 

I like sports. not so much as spending time watching them, but in general terms, I can understand the joy of practicing a sport, of exceeding at it, the benefits it has to one's health, both physical and mental, etc etc.   That's probably why I couldn't care less about what soccer is these days.

It is not the fact that there are indeed some  great players, that are artists of the trade. It's not the fact that people can absolutely like whatever they want and wish too, and it is really no one's business, it's just the fact that it stopped being treated as a sport. Yes, it's an industry, some proudly say, generating millions in revenue, fostering economic development, etc etc.

Thoughts to self:

The minimum monthly wage in Portugal nowadays is 705 Euro. 

A quick look at a 1st league club shop and I see that the official 2022-23 jersey costs 90€. I don't know the cost of tickets for a 1st league match but I suspect they don't come cheap either...

Now the real magic of football, to my eyes, is how to turn a  bloody T-shirt that was probably made in a third world country by an exploited worker and which has a production cost of a handful of euro into an obscure object of desire to be aquired by a receiver of the above mentioned minimum wage, so that he or she can proudly wear them at the match for whose outrageously expensive tickets they have been saving money they don't have. The same  match that begins half an hour late because the police had to escort the fans, like a herd of sheep, into the stadium, while the parading ogres  shout profanity all along the way ...

Human development...? advancement?.... mens sana in corpore sano?

And when the same receiver of the minimum wage opens the newspaper, or turns on the TV, to find that his most admired idol was sold - yes, people can be bought (but didn't slavery,.. buying people, etc etc?? shut up, you know nothing about it...) - to another club in another country (and he is already there on TV saying that he always wanted to be there, that the new club was is club from the start and that he'll do his best...) ? Oh, how he rejoyces, when he learns that the other club payed a bunch of million to buy his idol... and this makes him/her even prouder to wear the beautiful shirt that cost him/her almost 13% of his hard earned wages... 

Amateur sport is, in principle, purer in terms and aspirations, and hopefully it can continue to be so ...

La Lega Nazionale Dilettanti (National Amateur League) associates in a private, non-profit-making manner the sports clubs and associations affiliated to the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio that participate in the national, regional and provincial amateur football championships using exclusively the services of non-professional players.

The LND coordinates, directs and develops the football sporting activities of the sports clubs and associations associated with it and promotes the competitive events it organises or directly organises.

Such is the mission of the National Amateur League established on the 2nd August 1959.

Celebrating its relevance, La poste Italiane issued on 12DEC2019 a single stamp B tariff set with the image of  two players disputing a ball while on the background the inclusive nature of sport is somehow remembered by the image of a girl and a boy, both playing together inside a circle. the Logo of the Lega is also present on the top right corner of the stamp.

Further to the stamp, the envelope also contains a  .05€ sticker label, to bring the postage to the now required 1,15€ tariff for an international letter, up to 20 g.

COVER N.123 - BELGIUM

Postmark: 89 - BEERNEM 01.06.22
Posted on the 1st June; received on the 15th June 2022
__________________________________________________________________________________

A cover from the Centre of Europe... from the Belgium of chocolates and trapist beers... Thank you Guy, for letting me add another country to the list, and also for all the goodies inside your nice cover.

Stamps, left to right:

"Ne gravez pas sur cette pierre ce que je fus, ce que j’aimais, ce que j’ai fait sur cette Terre, quand reviendra le mois de Mai, les oiseaux dans leur doux langage le chanteront aux champs et aux forêts".

Do not engrave on this stone what I was, what I loved, what I did on this Earth, for when the month of May returns, the birds will chant it, with their sweet language, over fields and forests. 

The authoress of this moving epitaph was Antonia De Smet de Naeyer (1874-1949), the last Marquise de Pierre. A  passionate avant la letre  conservationist, with a deep love for nature and for birds in  particular, in 1922 she established the Ligue Royale Belge pour la Protection des Oiseaux (Belgian Royal League for the Protection of Birds).

Honouring the centenary of the Royal League, Bpost issued on 24JAN2022 the se-tenant pair of value 1 (non priority domestic) stamps on my cover. The stamp on the left side of the pair showing a portrait of the Marquise de Pierre and the stamp the right a carefully bandaged owl, evocative of the League's activities and commitments.

I first heard Toots Thielemans (1922-2016) play on Paul Simon's "I do it for your love" in the "Still crazy after all this years album", that was issued in 1975.... man, how time passes...

Toots was a well known harmonica player, the greatest ever jazz harmonica player, it is well acknowledged, although he started his career as a guitarist. Over his long and productive life he played with countless stars of the jazz constellation, from Charlie Parker to Miles Davies, from Ella Fitzgerald to Bill Evans...

Celebrating the centenary of his birth Bpost issued on 21MAR2022 a single stamp tariff 1 World, wherein Toots is displayed in two portraits as both an harmonica player and a guitarist. Of note is the fact that the stamp was issued in a curious minisheet format mimicking a vinyl record including 5 stamps.

COVER N.122 - FRANCE

Postmark: 89 - AVALLON YONNE 09.06.22
Posted on the 9yh June; received on the 15th June 2022
__________________________________________________________________________________

I feel awful! Much like a bus has ran over me...coughing, sneezing... a bit of fever kept at bay with paracetamol tablets... yes, my time has come, I got caught by the bloody thing too!

Luckily I am fully vaccinated and so is my wife who is already getting back to her normal self after a week of unhappy confinement at home. 

Couldn’t be more grateful to all those that in a record time produced a vaccine, and to all those that in my country pushed forward with what has to be one of the most outstanding logistic feats in our history and granted that, as of 31st may this year, 86% of us have been fully inoculated and a whopping 94,3% have had at least 1 shot of any of the 3 vaccines that have been used. 

In this uncomfortable state of affairs opening the letterbox to find some nice covers waiting to be picked up, feels even better. There's nothing nicer to ward off physically discomfort than occupying your mind with something that might bring you some intellectual satisfaction, be it art,  - and nowadays it is so easy to access art from home, music, museums, literature...- or the mysterious world unfolding from a stamp, as you  investigate what stories lie therein.

So thank you Jean-Pierre for the cover and the much appreciated goodies inside. 

Martinique... endless green, endless emerald blue, thin white sand , coconuts, quintessential Caribbean but part of the European Union as an ultraperiheric region.

Like many of the Caribbean states or domains, its history is one of ruthless colonization divided between French and British occupation,  indigenous people oppression and  slavery, that was officially terminated on the 27th April 1848, but as in any other post-slavagist society, left scars  that aren't even today fully healed.

Nature, the same nature that allows photographers perfect picture postcard shots of  wondrous locations, has also been a harsh punisher. On the 8th May,  1902 Mont Pelée a volcano overlooking the then capital Saint-Pierre, exploded and caused the total destruction of the city, killing no less than 30,000 people. The Volcano is still active today, the last eruption period having been registered in 1929-32.

Stamp 

Le Jardin de Balata, single 1,65€ stamp set, issued on 30MAY2022, dedicated to one of the modern wonders of Martinique: The Balata Garden.

The brain and physical child of  Jean-Philippe Thoze (1941-2017), a landscaper and horticulturist, the tropical garden now reunites more than 3,000 different species of tropical plants in a 3 hectare property that was once his grandparent's. The colonial style house that is also part of the garden park takes central stage on the stamp, which also features a heliconia, a strelitzia, and a white anthurium .

COVER N.121 - JAPAN

Postmark:  Hodogaya Kanasana Japan 28.05.2022
Posted on the 28th May; received on the 02June 2022
__________________________________________________________________________________

Another cover from the land of the rising sun. Thank you Itoh!

Japan must be one of the countries that issues the largest number of stamps per year. A quick check at an online catalogue and it is posible to conclude that since 2015 no year had less than 600 stamps issued, what equals a monthly average of at least 50 stamps... I suppose that if you're one of those philatelists that collect every stamp issued,  you'll have to be willing to spend quite a few nickels in order to keep up with supply....

anyway, threre were thre stamps on the cover I received from Japan this week:

A 10 Yen stamp issued on 15APR1964 as part of a two stamp with the same denomination set, highlighting regional festivals. My stamp relates to the Takayama festival, while its companion stamp of the same set is dedicated to the Gion festival.

The Takayama festival is held twice a year - Spring and Autumn festivals - and one of its main attractions is the parading of  heavily decorated floats along the sterets of the city, the image of one such float illustrating the stamp.

The two 50 Yen stamps are part of the same five self-adhesive stamp set issued on 08DEC2008 with stamps designed for winter greetings. 

COVER N.120 - CAPE VERDE

Postmark:  Mindelo 26.05.2022
Posted on the 26th May; received on the 31st May 2022
__________________________________________________________________________________

Cabo Verde, Cape Verde, the archipelago off the coast of Africa that was once an underdeveloped Portuguese colony  and a place of exile and torture for Portuguese oppositionists under the dictatorship of Salazar,  and is now a country steadily making its way forward as a stable true democracy, in spite of all the hardships of a harsh, dry climate, a lack of natural resources and the pressure of a ever growing population.

Sun, Wind and Sea abound though, and Cape Verde has turned to tourism as the main generator of income, a policy that has been fruitful and  has impelled the Republic upwards on the ranking of development, so much so that in 2008 Cape Verde progressed from a developing country into a medium development country.

I have to say that I do have a irrevocable connection with Cape Verde. As a matter of fact, I was actually conceived there, in the island of Sal, even if mother had to come to Lisbon, in mainland Portugal, in the last days of her pregnancy since a difficult delivery was expected (and later confirmed). I lived amidst rocks and sand and beaches until I was 4 or so, and the only memory I have of that time is feeling very ill for being drunk on petrol..... I can't resist telling the history:

There was a general store in the village. the only one, and by general, I mean general since I guess it sold anything needed to allow residents the possibility of a comfortable yet far from luxurious life.

Mother went there in the morning with her little child by her side. 

"Good morning, could I have some eggs, some flour, some...." while she was busy naming the groceries she was in need of, I went on a exploration safari to the back room of the shop, where the really interesting stuff was kept. 

And now is where my rather faded memories kick in: I turned  this little tap on a container, from which a stream of pink liquid came flowing down. I don't know why, but the fact that father used to drink something pinkish or reddish with his meals might have something to do with it, so picked up a metal cup lying about, filled it with the pink liquid and drank it. 

And my memories are interrupted here….

for a good reason I guess, because my mother later told me that I came out of the back room staggering until I was on the verge of collapsing. 

The smell in my breath told the tale and I was immediately taken to the village doctor, who prescribed warm milk as a way to induce vomit, since he probably had no means to perform a gastric lavage. so home mother took me, where she gave me copious amounts of warm milk, but for some reason I wouldn't throw up. Mother was becoming desperate and she decided to give me milk directly from the cooler. She told me she doesn't know to this day if this was the right thing to do, but the truth is that right after the cold milk, I finally managed to throw up all the nasty stuff I had inside.

The doctor had said that after throwing up I should not eat for the ensuing 24 hours, in order to clean the system up, but (and here my faded memories kick in again) I remember lying down on my parents' bed, with my father by my side and my mother giving me a banana to eat, because I was feeling rather hungry....

All is well that ends well, and I guess I've learned the lesson, because I have never drank petrol again...

This little story means absolutely nothing to none other than me and myself, I'm sure, and I had it well locked away in my memories vault, but a check of the letterbox yielded this enveloped graced with two very beautiful stamps and all of the sudden it came back to me. Stamps are powerful things…

And so I have to thank Roland again for having moved mountains so that I could add another country to my list, with this lovely cover from where I learned to walk, talk and ... avoid petrol as a substitute for wine!

Un grand Merci, comme d'habitude, Roland!

Stamps

The story of colonialism is always a story of domination and of course action triggers reaction (after all the laws of physics apply to generally anything, right?) 

In Cape Verde the first episodes of social unrest involving protests related to emancipation from colonial domination,  land use and exploitation  took place in the late XIX century. Confessing my ignorance, I investigated and found some information  here.

Cape Verde Post issued on 12NOV 2010, a three stamp set (40, 50, 60 Escudos), dedicated to these early popular uprisings, the one on my cover (50 Esc) being dedicated to  that of  " Paúl, Santo Antão (1894), in which more than a thousand people, from various parishes of Paúl, marched on Ribeira Grande, having occupied it for five days (the Council Square, the Town Hall and various public offices), to protest against injustices and harassment to which they were subjected and against the burden of property tax" (translated quote from "Esquina do Tempo")

Further to the image of a group of citizens, identified as Paúl locals subjected to slandering by "Machadistas" there is a quote form what I suspect is a song "Quem tem amor / Quem tem amor / ao berço amado / Grita fora/ Contra o Machado" (Those who love / Those who love /their place of birth / cry out / against Machado). I, as such, am led to the conclusion that someone named Machado, was the instigator of the slandering.

Cape Verde is also a land of Culture, expressed in written or sung words.

Mornas, Coladeras, Funaná are probably the better known genres of popular music from the archipelago where music almost seems to be a genetic trait....

On 2012, Cape Verde Post honoured six of its best known and missed  composers and performers with a very fine stamp emission (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 Escudos), each stamp showcasing the effigy of one artist while on the background legends stated their date and place of birth and passing and the names of some of the music pieces they were famous for.

My stamp (10 esc)  is dedicated to composer Ano Nobu (Fulgêncio Tavares).

The other artists in the set are Ildo Lobo, Renato Cardoso, Manuel d'Novas, Codé di Dona (Gregório Vaz) and Pantera (Orlando Barreto). 

The rather dificult to read postmark, tells us that the cover was mailed from the city of Mindelo, Cape Verde second largest city after Praia (island of Santiago) the capital , in the island of São Vicente.