Not that kind of post

I received this wonderful magnet in the mail this weekend. It was enclosed in a letter from my mother. She only lives about 50 minutes away, but felt that was still far enough away to receive a letter.

What is this all about? The Month of Letters was started by Mary Robinette Kowal (note, Robinette is her middle name, not maiden) back in 2010. I became aware of it last year when I started following her on Twitter (@maryrobinette) and heard about her preparations. The challenge: write a letter everyday that the mail goes out, and then make sure that it is posted. You can read the full challenge by clicking on the Month of Letters link above. This year I was glad to be a recipient, even if it was from my own mother.

I received this letter the same weekend that I heard about the USPS cutting Saturday deliveries because of budget reasons. Just about everyone I know will acknowledge that I love technology and the things it can accomplish. With that said, I love receiving stuff in the mail. I love the convenience of being able to download content directly to my computer, but I got absolutely batty when I am expecting something in the mail. It drives my wife nuts. I was disappointed to hear about the cut in service. There is something nice about going to the mail box and not just finding the usual stack of bills and credit care / insurance offers, but something from a friend or family member.

I am not participating in Month of Letters this year, but I am planning on doing it next year. Hopefully that will be before the US government decide to cut the USPS and simply privatize the who shebang. But before that happens, think about what it feels like to get that letter (handwritten or otherwise) and take advantage of what the Postal Service can do over posting on the internet. I'll just mention this one: E-mails have "attach," letters can "enclose."

(Just to put a plug in for Mary Robinette Kowal (not that she needs it) - she is a fantastic author of short and long fiction, a member of the Writing Excuses podcast panel, a professional puppeteer, a voice actress, and a collector of typewriters. She wrote two of my favorite books, Shades of Milk and Honey and Glamour in Glass. I'm going to start keeping track of authors in my "Mentioned in my Blog" and I'm glad to list her as the first.)