COVER N. 346 - AUSTRIA

Postmark: Wien 1010 04.11.2023

Posted on the 4th November; received on the 9th November 2023

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Frieden - Das Höchste Gut Der Menshheit - Peace, The Highest Value of Humanity, as can be seen in the Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, South Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan....

We has a whole, or better yet, as a hole, a bottomless one, it seems, have always been in the middle of a value crisis, for not being able to rationally overcome our animal nature, our will to dominate, our intolerance of the others.

And it is not just conflict between ourselves, it's the perennial conflict between ourselves and the planet we live in. We are heading to disaster and we don't even care to play the fiddle, as Nero or Titanic's orchestra maestro... 

As António Guterres put it: “We are on the verge of the precipice.Wake up. Step back. Change course. Unite!”

Frieden - Das Höchste Gut Der Menshheit 

Peace, The Highest Value of Humanity

Thanks a lot Alex for a beautiful cover from Austria's lovely Capital. May all the mushrooms we and all those that might come after us see be the type that pops up from the entrails of the earth when the time comes, such as the beautiful  Macrolepiota procera on the stamp.....

The Peace knot, inspired in the celtic love knot, the image proposed by  Post Luxembourg and winner of the contest to choose the design for the 2023 EUROPA stamps illustrating the theme proposed by Ukraine - Peace, the Highest Value of Humanity, is central to the 1,20€ stamp, issued on 05MAY2023.

Macrolepiota procera, the parasol mushroom,  is a rather common edible mushroom that can be found in all temperate rgions across the globe.

The 0,95 € stamp illustrated with 3 Macrolepiota procera mushrooms in different stages of maturity was issued on 25AUG2023 and is the year's issue of an annual series started in 2020.

The Postmark indicates that the cover was mailed from Vienna, the country's Capital.