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.

Water Lily vs. Lotus

Postcard US-4015954 to Canada shows a maxi card with a Water Lilies first-class forever stamp issued by USPS in Cleveland, OH on March 20, 2015, and a first-day-of-issue postmark.

The card was produced by SFWMD. It reads on the back: "Lovely fragrant white water lilies are abundant throughout much of southern Florida's ecosystem. The floating aquatic plant provides fish habitat and aquatic wildlife food and cover, and stabilizes sediments.

The Water Lilies stamps, priced at 49 cents at the time of issuance and valued at 47 cents now, have four designs based on existing photos taken by Cindy Dyer of Alexandria, VA in midsummer at the Kenil­worth Park and Aquatic Gardens in Washington, DC.

Cindy Dyer is also the photographer of a Sacred Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) image, taken at the Kenil­worth Park and Aquatic Gardens, that was used to produce the 11th of 16 stamps in the National Park Service’s Centennial stamp series. Sacred Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), with its blooming period from late June to early September, can grow a bloom in the size of a basketball.

I used to have some confusions between water lily and lotus. The Pond Plant Girl has an excellent article to describe their difference.

Meanwhile, Duanwu Festival 2016 happens today. Eating Zongzi, rice balls wrapped in reed leaves or lotus leaves, is one of the traditions during the festival.

One of the most popular ancient Chinese poems about lotus was Ode to the Lotus Flower (爱莲说) by Dunyi Zhou (周敦頤) (1017-1073). Duanyi wrote: "I just love lotus because she grows in mud, yet never contaminates with it. She floats on waving water, yet never dances with it." (出淤泥而不染 濯清涟而不妖)  In this metaphor, the lotus flower represents someone who remains ethical and noble in spite of general corruptions.

The Milky Way - New Zealand

Postcard NZ-146406 from New Zealand shows a view of the Milky Way from Down Under. According to an article from the Photography Roundtable, for people living in the Southern Hemisphere, the best time period to see and photograph the Milky Way is from February to October, as the galactic center of the Milky Way will not be visible from November to January.

For us in the Northern Hemisphere, the best time to see and photograph the Milky Way is between March and October with the galactic center in full view.

On a separate note, USPS released the Pluto—Explored! and Views of Our Planets Forever stamps during the first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony at World Stamp Show-NY 2016 on May 31, 2016. I was excited to purchase two sheets of the Views of Our Planets Forever stamps yesterday. However, to my disappointment, our local post offices had not ordered the Pluto—Explored! souvenir sheets. I will have to order them on-line.

Pluto and Its Moon Charon

Postcard DE-4851768 from Germany shows Pluto and its moon Charon.

USPS announces that it will issue the Pluto – Explored! Forever stamps at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City, New York on May 31, 2016 during the World Stamp Show – NY 2016, in order to recognize the NASA's history-making first reconnaissance of Pluto: New Horizons mission in 2015.

The souvenir sheet contains four stamps in two designs. The first design shows an illustration of the New Horizons spacecraft, while the second design shows a striking image of Pluto taken by the spacecraft near its closest approach. The image is a composite of four photos from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager, combined with data from the sensor Ralph.

New Moon Stamp by USPS is Out

Postcard UA-1386362 from Ukraine shows a full moon over the horizon. Today, USPS put out the new Moon Global Forever international rate stamp today. It continues to be a round stamp as other Global Forever stamps, featuring a detailed surface photograph of the moon. It sells for USD 1.20, which is good for mailing a 1-ounce letter or postcard to any country where the First-Class Mail International service is available.

Update: As of April 10, 2016, the new Global Forever international rate is decreased to USD 1.15.

I {heart} New York (in Las Vegas)

Outgoing postcard US-3263779 to Germany shows New York-New York Hotel & Casino with its architecture resembling the New York City skyline that includes the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building.

It is known for the 150-foot or 46-meter tall replica of the Statue of Liberty, whose face not only made into a USPS Forever stamp, but also landed USPS with a copyright infringement lawsuit. There is also another replica of the Statue of Liberty made of thousands of jelly beans in front of "It's Sugar" candy store on the second floor.

Shown predominantly on the lower-left part of the card, the Hershey’s Chocolate World store opened one year ago on June 3, 2014. It added yet one more 11-foot, 800-pound replica of the Statue of Liberty hand carved from milk chocolates.

Among other things, Hershey's also features a replica of the Empire State Building, made out of 1,800 Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bars, on the second floor.

Cherry Blossoms About to Reach Peak Bloom in D.C.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival is a spring celebration in Washington, D.C., commemorating the gift of 3020 cherry trees from Tokyo, Japan to the city of Washington D.C.  First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted the first two trees on the north bank of the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park on March 27, 1912. This weekend, the cherry blossoms are projected to hit peak bloom while the Annual National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade and the 55th Annual Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival will attract a large crowd.

Earlier today, USPS and Japan Post jointly issued the Gifts of Friendship Forever stamps on April 10, 2015, featuring cherry blossom trees and flowering dogwood trees, celebrating the enduring bond between U.S. and Japan on the centennial of the thank-you gift of flowering dogwood trees from the United States to Japan in 1915.

Outgoing postcard US-3263842 to Japan shows the Washington Monument with cherry blossoms in the foreground. It has one of the Gifts of Friendship stamps in the front featuring the Lincoln Memorial with vibrant cherry trees.

A Detour or a Scheduled Stop?

Postcard US-3223129 to Czech Republic was one of those Chinese New Year cards that got a USPS the Year of the Ram stamp and a hand-canceled postmark at a post office counter in Las Vegas on the first-day-of-issue February 7, 2015. However, an extra automated postmark revealed that the postcard had passed through a processing distribution center in Dallas, Texas. According to the USPS handbook, "advanced facer canceller systems used by processing distribution centers cancel letters quickly. These machines are equipped with biohazard detection systems so letters postmarked by automation benefit from added safety measures."

Other cards mailed on the same date such as US-3208613 to China or US-2651107 to Taiwan did not get an extra postmark.

Gateway Arch, St. Louis, Missouri

Postcard US-3064248 from Tennessee shows the city skyline of St. Louis, Missouri, featuring the Gateway Arch, a 630-foot or 192-meter monument built at the site of St. Louis' founding on the west bank of the Mississippi River between 1963 and 1965 to commemorate the westward expansion of the United States, against the backdrop of a flurry of cloud-to-ground bolts strike.

As the centerpiece of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, the arch is the tallest arch in the world and the tallest monument in the Western Hemisphere. The monument opened to the public on June 10, 1967. In comparison, the Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas stands at 1,149 ft or 350.2 meters.

St. Louis, the second largest city in the state of Missouri, was the hometown of Maya Angelou (April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014), an American author and civil rights activist. USPS issued a Forever stamp in her honor today, with Winfrey Oprah and Michelle Obama attending the stamp dedication ceremony in Washington D.C.

View image | gettyimages.com

However, USPS failed the fact check for the stamp by featuring a quotation from another author, and had no plan to re-issue the stamp. Nonetheless, the mix-up did not damp the enthusiasm of the dedication ceremony. Even a power outage that also affected the White House and much of the D.C. area could not stop Oprah's speach.

Search the Meaning of Silence

Postcard NL-1761372 from the Netherlands was a promotional postcard "Zoek de Stilte" for the book the Yogi's Clothes and Other Stories about Silence, an inspiring collection that contains 32 stories on the theme of silence from all over the world, collected and retold by Wim van der Zwan. The title story, of Indian origin, is about a poor yogi who meditates in silence all day. With a begging bowl and a loincloth accounting for all his possessions, his desire for a second piece of clothes leads to an untenable situation that involves a cat, a cow, a wife and a child.

Once again, Camp NaNoWriMo opens on April 1, 2015, kicking off a month-long writing event in a form of virtual camps. Coincidentally, April is also known as National Card and Letter Writing Month, an annual effort to promote literacy and celebrate the art of letter and postcard writing. To commemorate the occasion, USPS issued a colorful Forever stamps panel "From Me To You" with decorative stickers first time ever for personalizing envelopes, letters and greeting cards.

Try to be a Rainbow in Someone’s Cloud

USPS unveiled the Dr. Maya Angelou Forever Stamp image today on March 4, 2015, and announced that the stamp's First-Day-of-Issue as April 7, 2015 with the dedication ceremony at the Warner Theater in Washington, DC.

Maya Angelou (April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American author, poet, dancer, actress, singer, and champion of civil rights. One of the most dynamic voices in 20th-century American literature, she was known for her series of autobiographies. The first of the seven in the series, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” published in 1969, gave a vivid account for her childhood against the African-American life in the South as the background.

Postcard BY-892970 from Belarus shows a rainbow over the National Library in Minsk. Although unrelated, it does remind me a quote from Dr. Maya Angelou: "Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud." In "the Letter to My Daughter" in 2009, She said "You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them." Dr. Maya Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's inauguration in 1993. I can't wait to see the stamp.

Chinese New Year's Eve

It is the last day of the Year of the Horse today. The Chinese New Year's Eve marks the beginning of the Spring Festival, which traditionally runs from this last day of the last month of the lunar calendar to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month. It is a public holiday in many places with ethnic Chinese populations such as Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia where celebrations are already underway due to the time difference.

Outgoing postcard US-3224033 to Taiwan was a maxi card showing a pair of horses, part the "Year of the Horse" art installation at The Palazzo's Waterfall Atrium and Gardens in 2014, with a commemorative the Year of the Horse Forever stamp and a bullseye postmark.

From Snake, to Horse, and to Ram

Postcard US-2651107 to Taiwan was initially one of the Year of the Snake maxi cards enclosed in an envelop with the Year of the Horse Forever stamps. The envelop was sent in with other the Year of the Horse cards for a first-day-of-issue postmark in early 2014. The envelop seemed to be lost in the mail. This the Year of the Ram maxi card was sent as a replacement on February 7, 2015 when the Year of the Ram Forever stamp was first issued. It finally arrived two days before it would have expired permanently after "traveling" for a full year.

Five Unusual Places to Get Married in Las Vegas

Love is in the air on this Valentine's Day. The high temperature reached 78°C today, the highest in Las Vegas since 1957, creating a sense as if we are already in spring. As the marriage capital of the world, Las Vegas sees more than 120,000 couples who come to tie the knot every year. The Clark County Marriage License Bureau expected to issue around 1,500 marriage licenses during the Valentine’s Day/Presidents' Day weekend. Outgoing postcard US-3224035 to Finland was made of an inverted photo used on Postcard US-2722698, showing a wedding decoration in a store front on the Las Vegas Strip. The stamp was one of the two Love Hearts Forever Stamps issued by USPS on January 22, 2015, depicting the ancient association between eternal love and the heart.

Because it is Las Vegas, you can get get married without getting out of your car via drive-thru or having an Elvis impersonator officiating your wedding. In addition, there are some unusually spots to have your wedding to make it truly memorable. Here are my top five choices.

1. The Las Vegas Springs Preserve, one of the richest and most unique cultural and biological resources in Southern Nevada, offers "green" wedding services at both indoor and outdoor locations in the 180-acre botanical garden including an outdoor amphitheater that can host more than 1,000 guests.
2. Flamingo Las Vegas offers wedding packages at five areas among its 15-acre garden, with waterfalls, date palm trees, exotic waterfowl, or a collage of pools as backdrop. It is known for the Wildlife Habitat that features Chilean flamingos, Ring Tealed ducks, Sacred Ibis, swans, ducks, pelicans, koi fish and turtles.
3. The High Roller Observation Wheel offered free wedding ceremonies on 12/13/14. If you missed that opportunity, you can still book one of their packages for a fee. Since it's predominate in the Las Vegas skyline, you can use it as backdrop from various locations for free.
4. Stratosphere has Chapel in the Clouds where you can say "Yes, I do" 1,149 feet or 350 meters above ground with a panorama view of the city that never sleeps.
5. Only in Las Vegas, you can get married while you are running a marathon. However, that opportunity comes just once a year. The next Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon & Half Marathon Race will be November 15, 2015.

Year of the Ram Stamp Issued by USPS

USPS issued the Lunar New Year: Year of the Ram First-Class Forever stamp today. I was the first one who bought the stamps at a local post office as they brought up the stamps from the back and broke out a brand new pack. In celebrating the Year of the Ram, which begins on February 19, 2015 and ends on February 7, 2016,  the stamp shows a wooden candy tray known as a chuen-hop or Tray of Togetherness. The tray is filled with dried fruits, candies, and other treats to provide a sweet beginning to the new year.

According to a USPS postal bulletin, "customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office, at The Postal Store® website at http://www.usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

Lunar New Year: Year of the Ram Stamp
Attention: Station Manager
Chinatown Station
867 Stockton Street
San Francisco, CA 94108-9998

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. For more than 50, customers have to pay five cents each. All orders must be postmarked by April 8, 2015."

Outgoing postcard US-3224037 to Malaysia was a the Year of the Ram themed card with a matching stamp.

Make Some Noise

Las Vegas honors 2015 Martin Luther King Jr. Day with its 33rd annual parade that attracted thousands visitors and locals lining up Fourth Street downtown to watch more than 100 floats, bands, dancers, politicians, classic cars, motorcycles and people from various organizations marching in honor of Dr. King.

The theme of this year's parade was "Living the Dream: Where do we go from here?" It highlights the reflection and debate resulted from the racial tensions exposed after multiple police killings of black men last year. It is also a reminder that the struggle for equality is continuing and there are a lot to be done ahead.

An elderly spectator watches younger marchers streaming by at the 33rd annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in downtown Las Vegas on January 19, 2015.

The featured postcard was a maxi card featuring a self-portrait of me in front of the Newseum in Washington D.C. on August 28, 2013 with a USPS March on Washington Forever Stamp and its first-day-of-issue postmark.

Year of the Ram is Coming

My first the Year of the Ram postcard arrived from Taiwan today. It's a maxi card featuring a colorful sheep in paper cut art.  The NT$3.5 stamp, with the image of a sheep stepping gentle pace over plum blossoms against a pink background, is part of a two-stamp set issued by Chunghwa Post in Taiwan on December 1, 2014 to welcome the spring and bring good fortune. The Year of the Ram begins on February 19, 2015, and ends on February 7, 2016. USPS will also issue the Year of the Ram stamp as a Forever stamp in self-adhesive souvenir sheets of 12 in San Francisco, CA on February 7, 2015.

Venetian Tower at Christmas Time

I sent this card to Czech on December 26, 2014 as a replacement of US-2566010 that was posted on December 26, 2013. The original copy was the same as US-2518598, showing the tower at The Venetian Las Vegas with a round shaped USPS Evergreen Wreath Global Forever Stamp issued on October 24, 2013. It was apparently lost in the mail and had expired since. When the Postcard ID was dropped from the PostCrossing system after one year, it has formally entered my postcard graveyard. The replacement card has a new USPS Silver Bells Wreath Global Forever stamp that was issued on October 23, 2014 along with the Winter Fun stamps.

The Venetian Tower with Christmas Tree as seen on December 27, 2014.

North Pole Postmark Offered Through December 15

According to a news release from the U.S. Postal Service, once again, USPS is offering North Pole postmarks on holiday mail in 2014.

To receive the North Pole postmark on your holiday cards, you should:

• Purchase stamps at any post office.
• Affix the stamps to envelopes of your choice.
• Address the sealed envelopes, with the cards enclosed, to those on your mailing list.
• Mail them in a larger envelope,  box,  Priority Mail or Express Mail package to:

NORTH POLE HOLIDAY CANCELLATION
POSTMASTER
4141 POSTMARK DR
ANCHORAGE AK 99530-9998

Requests must be received in Anchorage by December 15, 2014 in order to ensure delivery by Christmas. The Postal Service receives hundreds of thousands of requests each year for North Pole postmarks from around the world.  The service is provided at no cost.  Each card or letter must have the correct amount of postage and be addressed.

Postcard US-2529937 to Taiwan shows a rubber stamp impression of polar bears sledding on a sleigh with a USPS Gingerbread House Forever stamp, before the card was sent in for cancellation last year.

USS Constitution

In this Veterans Day, I present this maxi card showing the USS Constitution with a matching stamp and a first-day-of-issue cancellation. It was sent around October 14, 2013 as US-2452560, but went missing along with more than a dozen other cards mentioned in my blog on November 18, 2013. It was kindly registered by the recipient as received when a replacement arrived.

The inception of the card was also storied. When the USPS issued War of 1812: USS Constitution stamps on August 18, 2012, I decided to request the first-day-of-issue postmark for the first time. I sent out 20 stamped covers and postcards, along with a self-addressed return envelop with Priority Mail Flat Rate postage, in another larger envelop by Priority Mail addressed to: The War of 1812: USS Constitution Stamp, Postmaster, 25 Dorchester Avenue, Boston, MA 02205-9998. The tracking record shows that it was received on September 17, 2012.

However, when I received my self-addressed Priority Mail envelop from Kansas City, I was surprised to find 30 First Day Covers that was not mine, along with a letter and a return mailing label saying that two of my items were damaged, I could use the free mailing label to resent two pieces of artworks without stamps to get replacements.

Someone else's FDCs sent to me in error.

So, I returned those FDCs with a letter saying those were not mine, and I was due 20 covers and postcards. So I enclosed 20 un-stamped for them to apply stamps and postmarks. Those postcards were returned after a couple of weeks. The enclosed letter said they wouldn't issue replacement arbitrarily, and I had to sent back damaged cards to get replacement. Hello? did I just send back 30 FDCs that were not mine? Then I realized that if something mixed up at Boston, Kansas people might not have any idea what I had sent in. So I wrote another letter detailing what I sent and when. Only after another round of back and forth, I received all my FDCs and maxi cards after almost six months.

The lesson learned from this experience:

• before you send in your covers or postcards, make a list of inventory and take a picture of them;
• attach a note with diagrams to show your preferred postmark placement;
• include your email and phone number on the note in case you need to be contacted;
• using track service to send in your covers and postcards;
• be patient,

The postcard was purchased at Zazzle.