I recently realized I had become an iPhone scroller.  If I were bored or anxious or looking for cheap entertainment, I scrolled.  Or worse, I played Solitaire or tried to reach Genius or even Queen Bee status on the New York Times Spelling Bee game.  I scrolled YouTube videos for one I might want to watch, and then for good measure checked Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook posts.  Sometimes I repeated this process several times each day.  I concluded my social media scrolling was lazy and undisciplined behavior.   Sure, I accomplished what I n ..read more

Before there were postage stamps, before there were government-run post offices, before there were paper envelopes for written correspondence, there was letterlocking. What is letterlocking? Letterlocking is a technique for securing handwritten epistolaries that was invented by letter writers during the 1300’s. That’s when flexible paper first became available in Europe; this thinner paper enabled correspondents to fold and secure their letters so their missives could function as their own envelopes or sending devices and their contents could be kept private. Until the 1800’s, mail delivery in ..read more

Lynda and Dani beneath the Dali Museum Wishing Tree I first encountered these two Floridians in 2020, during the early days of the shutdown.   The three of us happened to enroll in an online class titled “Deepening Your Connection with Nature”, in which our instructor, who also resided in Florida, offered a series of assignments designed to help us look more closely at our surroundings and then write about them.  Videos and handouts with ideas and suggestions for focusing our attention on a scene, a walk, or some other aspect of the natural world were emailed to us.&nb ..read more

Like many people, I entered the reawakening following the COVID shutdown with a long list of people I wanted to see, hug, and enjoy in person.  I’m still not caught up, but during the last couple of post-vaccination months, instead of writing letters, posting blogs, or preparing the latest LLW Zine, spending real time with friends and family was my priority, along with a large project here at our home:  reworking our tired perennial and herb gardens.     The entertaining part was fun, easy, like getting back on a much-loved bicycle. The garden project was a whole ..read more

Northport Omena Suttons Bay Leland Glen Arbor Empire Cedar Maple City Lake Leelanau ..read more

‘Never Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste’ was the theme of my priest’s sermon during yesterday’s Zoom church service. The saying is attributed to Winston Churchill and before that, Mark Twain, but I’d been thinking, even before I heard her sermon, about when we will begin to emerge from the pandemic and more important, what I will bring with me and what I will leave behind when I do. I’ve had my shots, thanks to the Benzie-Leelanau Health Department, and many of my close friends and family members have as well. Although we don’t know yet what is the safest course of action for ourselves and for ot ..read more

Last week’s snail mail delivery included a letter from a friend written inside this beautiful notecard.  Look closely and you’ll see that Midsummer’s Day at Pyramid Point depicts a profusion of meadow flowers along a trail leading to one of Leelanau County’s dunes.  Roiling clouds cast ominous shadows on both the shoreline and the surface of Lake Michigan.  Butterflies rise from the meadow and dance in the upper border of this complex and intricate card, a creation of Leelanau County artist, Kristin Hurlin.   I’ve admired Kristin’s work for ma ..read more

I have a fascination with novels in which the stories are told through letters written by one or more of their characters.  These stories, fictional epistolaries, don’t easily translate to the screen so, with exception, they mostly sit quietly on library and bookstore shelves, waiting to be discovered.   Here’s a list of some of my favorites:  84 Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows, The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova,  A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth ..read more

Last week Canada Post announced it would deliver 13.5 million postcards, one to every postal address in Canada.  Recipients will be able to write a note and mail their postcard free to anyone they choose, anywhere in Canada, simply by dropping it in a mailbox. Six versions of these cards will be randomly distributed, each offering a simple message of love, appreciation, or thanks, written in both English and French.  The postcards are part of Canada Post’s “Write Here, Write Now” program launched last September to encourage Canadians to use letter writing to connect in a he ..read more

Recently, I received an amazing package from my dear friend, Lynn. The Book of Correspondence, which she imagined and then created, quickly became one of my most treasured possessions.  I keep it on my writing desk because it’s full of images and words that inspire and delight me. I never tire of looking through it and I thought I’d share it here with you. Lynn Parise is a Michigander who creates collage art from antique photos and postcards, decoupaged pictures, clever sayings, thread, postage stamps, old telegrams, wire, keys, drawer pulls, charms, beads, envelopes, and even dictio ..read more