Wild Postcards

Thea in Queensland, Australia, with whom I swap postcards regularly, thought she would make me work for my postcard this time around. This postcard-sized puzzle arrived in an envelope in 48 pieces. I thought I might delegate this to 6-year-old Grandson #2, but then I looked a little more closely. If you examine the individual pieces rather than the completed picture, you will notice that almost every piece is an abstract mess of wavy lines or dots.

The joke’s on Thea, though. I let the puzzle sit for four days, being extremely busy with work; the missus decided to put most of it together for me. She figured out Leonardo; I filled in around the edges.

This “postcard” came from a Da Vinci exhibition near her home, with working models of Leonardo’s vehicles and some of his other inventions, built according to his plans.

Thea in Queensland, Australia, with whom I swap postcards regularly, thought she would make me work for my postcard this time around. This postcard-sized puzzle arrived in an envelope in 48 pieces. I thought I might delegate this to 6-year-old Grandson #2, but then I looked a little more closely. If you examine the individual pieces [...]

Thea in Queensland sends in this First Day of Issue maxicard, cancelled at St. Marys, New South Wales, Australia in 2008. (You can see another card from this series today at Girls Go Postal.) While the card doesn’t specifically say so, I expect that this is the angel who appeared before the shepherds as described in the book of Luke:

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

A very happy Christmas to you.

Thea in Queensland sends in this First Day of Issue maxicard, cancelled at St. Marys, New South Wales, Australia in 2008. (You can see another card from this series today at Girls Go Postal.) While the card doesn’t specifically say so, I expect that this is the angel who appeared before the shepherds as described [...]

Thea sent me this card “in honor of the didge languishing on (my) wall.”  Yes, it’s true: I have a didgeridoo that I treat as an objet d’art because of my complete inability to make a single note come out of the thing.  I think I just have too much chin for it.

My wife and I have a living room parlor that is as Victorian as possible under modern circumstances, and one of the things that Victorians did was to decorate with (read: show off) souvenirs of their travels.  Unfortunately, we haven’t been to Australia; the didge was a gift from a friend.  Above the didge, however, is a Sunday supplement from a 1939 Canadian newspaper showing King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later The Queen Mother), still in its contemporary frame, and is a genuine souvenir of our trip to the Maritime Provinces.

Thea sent me this card “in honor of the didge languishing on (my) wall.”  Yes, it’s true: I have a didgeridoo that I treat as an objet d’art because of my complete inability to make a single note come out of the thing.  I think I just have too much chin for it. My wife [...]

Thea sent over this collection of Australian roadsigns that is postmarked last Wednesday and arrived today.  Now that’s what I call service.  One place you won’t get service is at the traditional outback dunny.  Any port in a storm, I guess; when you gotta go, you gotta go.  Dunny is, of course, Australian slang for any toilet or toilet facility.  Nobody’s really sure where the word came from, but it was first used in print in the 1950s and may originate from an older word, dunegan (or dunnakin) which meant the same thing.  I’m sure this does not reflect poorly on anyone of Irish extraction named Dunegan.

(Do you realize that a toilet is probably the only thing in the English language that doesn’t have a name?  Even the word toilet is a euphemism, as is every other word I can think of to describe it.)

Speaking of insulting Australian slang, we Yanks are sometimes referred to as seppos.  Apparently rhyming slang survived the trip from Cockney London, which is why, for example, Cockneys refer to a flight of stairs as apples.  (No, really — stairs rhymes with apples and pears, which is usually shortened to apples.)  In any case, the Aussies have taken it a step further by rhyming Yank with septic tank (supposedly because Yanks talk a lot of, well, you know), then shortening that to seppo.  It must be confusing — making up a word based on rhyming slang, then having to tell everyone what the hell you’re talking about.

I guess it could be worse; they call New Zealanders sheepshaggers.

Thea sent over this collection of Australian roadsigns that is postmarked last Wednesday and arrived today.  Now that’s what I call service.  One place you won’t get service is at the traditional outback dunny.  Any port in a storm, I guess; when you gotta go, you gotta go.  Dunny is, of course, Australian slang for [...]