COVER N.143 - BELGIUM.

Postmark: Beernem 06.07.22 
Posted on the 11th July; received on the 19th July 2022

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In all reality, stamps cover all sorts of themes and concerns. Who would have thought that DJs would one day be the subject of a stamp emission. And yet, that's precisely what happened on 14JUN2021, when BPost issued a souvenir sheet with five "1 Europe" tariff stamps dedicated to those Belgian citizens most proficient in the art of making people shake their bodies in  large  venues....

The DJ on my stamp is known as Netsky, it seems, and on the souvenir sheet he shares the stage with "The Magician", "Lost frequencies", "Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike" and Yves V.

Thanks a lot Guy, for the such a "loud" cover 😀

COVER N.142 - FRANCE.

Postmark: 32014A-01 France 11.07.22 La Poste
Posted on the 11th July; received on the 15th July 2022

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Mais qu'est-ce qu'il se passe, Marianne?  Today is the 15th... YOU ARE LATE! 

La prise de la Bastille, July the 14th, 1789, a date that would,  in time - 1880 - become France's national holiday,  the consuetudinary beginning of the French Revolution which  would be forever synthesised in the trylogic Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité motto, embodied in a feminine figure wearing a Phrygian cap... Marianne.

Marianne's effigy has been present in France's definitive stamps since 1944, as far a I could understand after a bit if searching over the internet (an abridged history of  Mariane stamps until the 2008  emission can be found here ). I also learned that tradition has it that choosing the design for the Marianne emissions rests on the shoulders of the French President.

Emanuel Macron was thus responsible for choosing the design of the stamp on my cover, known as Marianne, l'Engagée  - Marianne the  Engaged. The original set, comprising 9 values, some of them in different versions - gummed, self-adhesive and even imperforated - was issued on 23JUL2018. Of note is the fact that two of the stamps included data matrix codes, which, I believe,  makes it possible to track and trace the objects on which they are applied.

The stamp on my cover, though, was issued on 02JAN2019, and while retaining the same colour and format of the "monde" denominated stamp of the original issue it now features the legend "International", a modification which I suspect is  probably due to tariff reconfiguration.

The cancellation was machine applied, and I could not find information on the place of issuance. 

COVER N.141 - ISRAEL.

Postmark: Tel-Aviv Yafo 06.07.22
Posted on the 6th July; received on the 14th July 2022
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On a hot day (much like the rest of western Europe, we've been experiencing an horrible heat wave that not only has been making life very hard for quite a number of people living in places not usually associated with this kind of phenomenon,  but has also been  fuelling forest fires everywhere,...) I open my  letterbox to find a letter stamped with beautiful cactus stamps... Quite adequate, I should say, so Thanks a lot Yair, you aced it this time 😀!

Cacti are strange creations, surviving in the harshest of conditions, they bring a touch of green to places that would otherwise  be quite devoid of  any other colour than yellow of brown, and most of the times they exhibit  gorgeous flowers that, contrary to them are almost ephemeral.

Still they also adapt to humid and not so hot climates and so much so that one of the cacti in the stamps on the envelope - Opuntia ficus-indica,  is cultivated in Portugal, not only for its fruit, but also for applications in the area of cosmetics and health, I believe.

Stamps left to right:

Gerberas are very beautiful members of the Asteraceae family. Being native to South America, Africa, Madagascar and Tropical Asia, they are today cultivated as cut flowers in many countries, mine included, cultivars now exceeding 80 varieties, I believe.

On 05FEB2013 Israel post issued a souvenir sheet with 10 stamps (2 strips of 5) featuring images of gerberas, from which the .20 shekel on my cover was taken. other denominations include are .30; .40; .50;.60 and 1 Shekel. Strangely enough, the date on the margin of the stamp reads 22.10.2012, which is probably the date of printing?

Cacti of Israel was the theme of the 5 se-tenant 2.5 Shekel stamp strip issued on 15FEB2022 from which the two cacti stamps on my cover were part. Illustrated on these two stamps are a Ferocactus (a gender that comprises more than 30 species) and the already mentioned Opuntia ficus-indica. The nice photos in the stamps highlight not only the general aspect of the cactus itself but also the beautiful flowers they produce.

The difficult to read postmark confirms that the letter was mailed in Tel-Aviv.

COVER N.140 - FRANCE.

Postmark: Bureau Philatélique Toulouse Capitole  08.07.22
Posted on the 8th July; received on the 13th July 2022
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Merci Marie-José for this cover with a very interesting stamp on it.

French engineer and avion pioneer Henri Marie Léonce Fabre (1882-1984) is credited with having designed and flown the first successful iteration of a full seaworthy flying machine, capable of taking-off and landing in a water surface. Although not initially referred to as such, his invention would go into history books as  le Hydravion, a word that to this day finds a place in many languages including mine, where sea operating aircraft, both float planes and flying boats alike, are generally referred to as hidro-aviões.

The first flight of his machine took place at the Etang de Berre, on 28 March 1910, following previous unsuccessful tries. The “canard” a name that acknowledged the configuration of the flying surfaces of the aircraft , (besides the main wing, canard aircraft have a forward mounted smaller wing meant to increase lift) was powered by a gnome Omega 50 hp rotary engine and measured 8,5 metres long, with a wingspan of 14 m, weighing in at 380 kg.

The aircraft crashed on 12 April 1911, while being flown at the Concours de Canots Automobiles de Monaco. Its remnants were recovered in 1922 and the restored aircraft is now on display at the Musée de l'air et de l'espace, at le Bourget, Paris.

Contrary to many other flight pioneers, Henri Fabre had a long life, a fact to which his having quit developing aircraft and concentrating in the development of floats for aircraft might  have had some positive influence 😊

The very beautiful 3€ stamp with the effigy of Henri Fabre and the image of his "Canard" taking off  in the background was issued on 27MAR2010, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first successful flight of a sea plane.

COVER N.139 - NEW ZELAND.

Postmark: Whanganui 16.05.22 NZ
Posted on the 16th May; received on the 13th July 2022
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If I were to drill a hole through the crust of the globe and follow right through to the other side, I'd be popping out at where this very beautiful cover came from: the antipodean New Zealand. Thank you so much Peter, not only for the nice cover, but also for the opportunity of adding such an interesting entry into my philatelic atlas.

I would love to visit New Zealand. It is a place which I associate with extreme scenic beauty and on top of it, it is, for the moment, led by a human being that has given the world a lesson on how to handle the aftermath of a hate  episode. If New Zealand is antipodean to me, Jacinda Ardern is antipodean to many politicians we know. My utmost respect to you Ms. Ardern.

Stamps left to right:

According to Wikipedia, 1.3% of the Population of New Zealand follows the Islam religion. Acknowledging this fact New Zealand Post has issued on 06APR2022 a beautiful commemorative issue comprising  four 1,5 NZ Dollar stamp (also issued in minisheet format) dedicated to Eid Mubarak. As far as I managed to grasp, Eid Mubarak are greetings that are expressed by the faithful during the Ramadan feast days. According to New Zealand Post website "These stamps feature "Eid Mubarak" (Eid Blessings) in Arabic calligraphy over the silhouette of a mosque, as well as the wording  “1443 AH” (the Islamic year) and "Eid Mubarak", followed by “New Zealand”.

Souvenir sheet containing six 45 Cent stamps issued on 16AUG1994, on the occasion of World Stamp Exhibition PHILAKOREA 1994

The stamps on this minisheet were also issued on the same date as a ten stamp double row five stamp se-tenant strip, dedicated to wild animals. Further to the tiger, panda, elephant, polar bear, giraffe and lion on the minisheet, the strip included stamps with images of an hippopotamus, spider monkey, rhino and zebra.

COVER N.138 - CHILE.

Postmark: Illegible
Posted on the 17th June; received on the 13th July 2022
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The Declaration of the Rights of the Child was first adopted by the League of Nations in 1924. In it, the ex-belligerent countries, in the wake of a war (that sadly would lead to another...) which brought unparalleled destruction and hardship, acknowledging that children are the most vulnerable of us all, but also those that will ensure the progress and future of mankind, postulated five simple  statements that, if abided to by all nations  would ensure  the protection and welfare of children across the planet.

The principles acknowledged in the Declaration (which would also be improved upon in the course of the years) would be later on  detailed by  the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 November 1989.

This Convention sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children. and came into force after ratification by the required number of UN member countries in 1990.

Although child abuse in all sorts of ways and matters is still one of the worst civilisational nightmares our species has to contend with, the ever greater scrutiny of international organisations, institutions and legislative bodies has ensured actual progress, even though regression is always at the corner of a new war, socio-economic or/and ideo-political crisis.

Chile ratified the  International Convention on the Rights of the Child on  13 August 1990. 

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the ratification, the postal administration of Chile issued on 13SEP2017 a stamp emission comprising a two 500 Peso stamp se-tenant pair and a souvenir sheet with a 1,500 Pesos stamp, the one that graces the nice cover I received  on my letterbox. 

The white legends on the sids of the sheet read childres (male and female) and young people are subjects of rights.

On upper left corner of the sheet there's also this nice slogan: 25 years past the Convention on the Rights of the Child, its up to us, adults, to grow up.

Thank you so much for the nice cover, Jindrich.

COVER N.137 - INDONESIA.

Postmark: Malangselatan 02.02.2022
Posted on the 2nd February; received on the 8th July 2022
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There was a time when hearing about Indonesia would almost always spark in the minds of  the Portuguese  a feeling of discomfort, of mute despair, even though both our  countries stand almost opposite to each other on the circumference of the globe.

and what for...

Today East Timor free from the colonial grasp of both Portugal and Indonesia is slowly  making its way through the grand concert of nations and Indonesia and Portugal are strengthening the bonds of a relation that is 500 hundred years old and that has left its imprint in the form of some words in the Bahasa Indonesia language and also in Indonesian music as I learned the other day on watching a documentary on the Portuguese origins of the Kroncong a direct descendant of the Cavaquinho, just like the Hawayn Ukelele.

Conflicts can be solved. they always are because no conflict can last forever. Humanity, who is well aware of this simple fact (all it takes is opening any history book....) has failed immensely over the years.. and is still failing....

To err is human; persisting in the same error, is not; it is exactly the opposite, and yet, like donkeys, some keep on putting bombs ahead of words ...

 

What a great pleasure it was  to receive a cover from Indonesia! Thank you Irene, I truly appreciated it.

 Stamps, Lef to right:

3,000 Rupiah stamp part of a se-tenant three stamp set dedicated to the fauna of Indonesia, issued on 05NOV2019. The stamp is illustrated with a image of a Stiphodon annieae, a freshwater goby that is endemic to Halmahera, Indonesia, and many fish tanks around the globe, I presume :-).

Souvenir sheet with two 2,500 Rupiah stamps highlighting fauna and flora species endemic to Indonesia, issued on 30NOV2006, on the occasion of the Bandung 06 National Philatelic Exhibition.

The beautiful images on the stamps call on our attention to the Javan Leopard,  Panthera pardus melas, a species that is listed as endangered in the IUCN red list and the Gandaria (Boueha macrophylla) a species of mango endemic to Indonesia and Burma.

The Postmark indicates  Malang in the Island of Java,  as the place of expedition of this nice cover.