LOVE NOTES

Long before I was a blogger or Facebooker, I was a letter writer. I'm one of those introverted sorts who can't seem to find her voice when speaking face-to-face or on the telephone, but has no trouble whatsoever when it comes to the written word. Hubby and I dated all through college, but things really heated up when he took a job in southeast Asia. Turns out he's pretty good with the written word as well! When I joined him overseas, I wrote weekly letters home to family and friends, and lived for the days when Hubby came home from work with a handful of their replies. Now, every time I trek to our mailbox, at the bottom of our long driveway, I get depressed. There is never anything in it but junk mail and Viking Rivercruise Catalogs. Now those we get plenty of -- two or three a day! So what's a letter-loving gal to do? Why, she signs up for Love Notes, that's what!

I'd been hearing some of my artsy friends talk about "art mail" for quite some time, but never knew how to join one of the groups. Then just a week or two ago I stumbled across something on Facebook from Jennifer Belthoff, who started a group called Love Notes. She was letting everyone know that it was time for another go-round, and all we had to do was drop her a line if we wished to be included. Apparently she does this three times per year, for three weeks each time. I think it started out as letters, and I'm sure some of the more artistic people went all out, leaving others feeling a bit intimidated. This time she switched it to postcards, and it doesn't even need to be a handmade card. It can be one you got at the drugstore! The only requirement is that you be a person who loves sending and getting mail. Can't think of what to write to a total stranger? No problem! She even sends you a weekly prompt to get you started!

Our first week's prompt came last Sunday, and it was to tell the pen pal we were assigned what kind of world we wished to live in. I used a blank postcard I purchased at the craft store, and wrote a little note saying "Dear Sarah, I want to live in a color-mad, whimsical world (á la Antoni Gaudi) where thinkers and makers are valued just as much as smooth-talking wheelers and dealers. Yours Truly, Becky T. Lane."

On the reverse side, I used water color pencils to sketch this:

Oh yeah, there was one more requirement. You must get your cards in the mail by Friday of each week.  I got mine in the mail yesterday afternoon, and will probably be hovering by our mailbox until I get one in return!