POSTCARD N.140 - CANADA

Postcard sent on the 6th May, received on the 14th May 2024

Postcard image: The Canadian in winter travelling through Robson park

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No image could be more iconic of Canada than  that on the postcard Ravindra kindly sent me from the great Canadian outback. Thanks you so much, Ravindra.

The 4,446 km journey between Toronto and Vancouver in the Canadian lasts 4 days, crossing "gentle prairie fields, rugged lake country [...] picturesque towns [and] the snowy peaks of the majestic Rockies", as can be grasped from  the VIA Rail Canada - the train operator for this famous scenic ride -  website.

Looking at the postcard, I am not sure that winter is the better time of the year to take the ride, for the majestic greens are subdued by the rather structureless wither shade of pale of the fog and the falling snow, judging from the photograph.

The problem with such great train journeys, as with all organised journeys is that I always come out of them with the feeling having missed  great photo  opportunities.

Of course, when I go out travelling in a car, being able to stop wherever I want to, I always come home with the feeling that I could have shot much better pictures than I did, but at least I have not to live with the idea that I have gone past my photo of a lifetime and could not stop a while just to grab it.... :-)

Now on to the stamps, left to right:

- A stamp I had already seen on another of Ravindra's sendings, part of the 2024 Canada Post wildflowers issue, dated of   01MAR2024, comprising two tariff P, for Permanent, self-adhesive stamps. 

The beautiful stamp It is illustrated with the image of  a Spotted Beebalm (Monarda punctata), a native from Canada, Eastern United States and Mexico, a member of the mint family which exhales a thyme scent, which makes it a favourite amogst pollinators.

- Not that long ago, on last 8 April, the moon cast its shadow on the bright star that illuminates us daily, in its most perfect form, something I have yet to witness...(will I ever?)

A rare occasion and, as such,  one worthy of celebration. So  Canada Post issued a commemorative "P" tariff stamp showing the eclipse in its totality phase, midway between  the Canadian Totality path, illustrated by a photomontage with Niagara Falls, Ontario, on one side and Bonavista, Newfoundland on the other.

The stamp is said to have been printed with a coating than, when exposed to black light, shows the image of the eclipse against a darkened sky, as it happens in real life, but I have not the means to confirm it.

- Salome Bey was an American-born Canadian singer, songwriter and actress who lived between 1933 and 2020. I have to confess I had never heard about her so I went and took a look on Youtube to discover a powerful gospel voice, which I am sure I will hear again.

Celebrating her life, Canadian Post issued a “P” tariff self-adhesive stamp on 22APR2022, illustrated with a portrait of the singer, with her name printed in gold.

The Postmark on the stamps hails from the City Centre Post Office  of Victoria in British Columbia. 

Unfortunately this is not the only existing postmark on the stamps since Canada Post also put the postcard through a postmarking machine…