A Happy Halloween!

Postcard US-6314090 from Maryland shows a vintage Halloween image from the early 20th century of a boy with his dog, checking out three funny pumpkins.

The US Postal Service issued four Forever stamps at the Milford Pumpkin Festival in Milford, NH on October 11,2019 for Halloween. The Spooky Silhouettes stamps feature a cat, two ghosts, a spider, and three bats rendered as black silhouettes against eerily backlit windows.

SuperGraphic: Blue Cats by Rina Z

Postcard BY-1535613 from Belarus shows a painting of Blue Cats by artist Rina Z from Minsk, Belarus, who is specialized in watercolor, raster (digital) graphics, and mixed technique. Her cats are blue only in color, not in their mood, as they are always positive, energetic and adventurous. 

Coincidentally, the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas is hosting a "Lucky Cat" exhibition, showcasing a 9-foot or 2.75-meter chrome-finished Japanese style maneki-neko (招財貓), the fortunate beckoning cat said to bring good luck and money to business establishments. Therefore, you would often see a Lucky Cat at the entrance of Asian jewel shops and restaurants beckoning and greeting customers by waving it's paw. The Cosmopolitan Lucky Cat extends this concept further by sharing its good fortune with its guests: guests over 21 years old can touch the Lucky Cat's paw once a day to receive a Cosmopolitan promotion.

Belarusian Cat

Postcard BY-1460654 from Belarus shows an illustrated Belarusian Cat by artist Ekaterina Shmirina, dressing like Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost), a fictional character who in some Slavic cultures plays a similar role as Santa Claus does.

Fur Traders Descending the Missouri

Outgoing postcard US-3139095 to Russia shows one of the most famous paintings by George Caleb Bingham, a 19th century American artist. Depicting American life in the frontier lands along the Missouri River using the Luminist style, the painting was originally entitled French-Trader, Half-breed Son. It reflected the reality of fur traders' common marriages with Native American women. However, the name was changed to Fur Traders Descending the Missouri to avoid potentially controversial when it was first exhibited. Painted around 1845, this art piece is now owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The stamped card was one of the EXTRAordinary Art Card series issued by USPS at the Saint Louis Art Museum in St. Louis, Missouri on May 4, 1990. It has a 15-cent postage pre-printed with a reproduction of the 1845 painting and sells for 50 cents at the time.

The liberty cap or Phrygian cap worn by the older man was the symbol of freedom and liberty commonly used in the 19th century. The animal in the boat was actually a bear cub, not a cat.

Do More of What Makes You HAPPY

Postcard BY-1247706 from Belarus was one of the Boo and Stu Stories cartoon collections featuring a girl, a bear and a cat. The card was sent on April 7, 2014. It took 128 days to reach me, although the actual mailing time could be shorter.

A Street Cat in Dallas

Postcard US-2882828 to the Netherlands shows a street cat that I met in Dallas, Texas in 2010. She had just given birth to several kittens and shown up at the balcony of my friend's house where I was staying. Being a street cat, she looked healthy and clean, alert and guarded yet full of energy and curiosity.

The summer 2010 in Dallas was hot and the high temperature in early July was between 90°F or 32°C and 95°F or 35°C. I put out some food and water and a litter box but otherwise kept distance. However, she was friendly and let me to take her picture up close. For the next couple of weeks, we kept each other company and I enjoyed to watch her kitten grow by day. I named her Misty because of her misty eyes. She brought breeze to me in a brutal summer and showed me how to survive on the tough street and yet not to lose hope and trust in people.

When the time came for me to leave town, I wish I could have taken her and her kittens with me. I bought some more can food and asked my friend to keep feeding them. However, my friend reported that they no longer showed up once I left.

I have been wondering how she has been ever since. With her positive impact on me, she can be proud of herself as a street cat. The photo was taken on July 8, 2010.

You can purchase the postcard and personalized postage stamps featuring Misty from Zazzle.

Just Relax

For many people, Monday is a stressful day with accumulated emails and voice mails over the weekend. Even decades ago, Mississippi John Hurt had a amazing piece of Monday Morning Blues that summarized the feelings of working class people waking up in a Monday morning.

Michael Poh had five simple and effective ways to counter Monday blues. The number one was to "have something to look forward to on Monday nights". For me, it is opening mail box and finding out how many postcards are there. That's why it was refreshing today to receive this "Just Relax" card DE-2253813 from Germany. Usually I get more postcards on Monday than any other days in the week. So, it's not all that bad. The cat is cute.