America the Beautiful -- Sonora Desert

The second postal card in the America the Beautiful series was issued January 13, 1989 in Tucson, Arizona. The design features an eagle soaring over the Sonora Desert in the golden glow of sunset. The 15-cent stamped card was the first philatelic item of 1989 by USPS.

Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

Postcard IE-78738 from Ireland shows a sunset view from the Cliffs of Moher or Aillte an Mhothair in Irish, located at the southwestern edge of the Burren region in County Clare, Ireland. According to Wikepedia, those cliffs rise 120 meters or 390 feet above the Atlantic Ocean at Hag's Head, and reach their maximum height of 214 meters or 702 feet just north of O'Brien's Tower, eight kilometers to the north. There is a round stone tower near the midpoint of the cliffs, built in 1835 by Sir Cornelius O'Brien, where visitors can see the Aran Islands in Galway Bay, the Maumturks and Twelve Pins mountain ranges to the north in County Galway, and Loop Head to the south. With almost one million visitors a year, it was one of the most popular tourist sites in Ireland.

A rainbow formed over Dublin in the evening yesterday as people in Ireland voted on a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize same-sex marriage. Final results indicated that 62% of voters and all but one district approved the amendment in a referendum Friday. It shows that support for marriage equality extended well beyond Ireland’s liberal urban centers and deep into its rural heartlands; and that a vote for same-sex marriage in Ireland is not a ‘No’ vote to Catholicism. Just as Prime Minister Enda Kenny proclaimed: “with today’s vote, we have disclosed who we are: a generous, compassionate, bold and joyful people.” Ireland became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage by popular vote in the world, joining 18 other countries (Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Argentina, Denmark, France, Brazil, Uruguay, New Zealand, Britain, Luxembourg, and Finland) where same-sex couples can marry nationwide.

Rainbow at the end of the canvass,last night North Dublin Suburbs #IrelandSaysYes #IrelandVoteYes #irelandreferendum pic.twitter.com/gzk9UFZVDv

— Simy Frant (@SimyFrant) May 23, 2015

Gone but Not Forgotten

Postcard US-2698995 to Taiwan shows a cactus grown in a lot across The Orleans in Las Vegas, Nevada that I used to see often on my way to an evening workout. The ever changing impressions of the cactus' silhouette against the evening skies had made up an fascinating time-lapse movie in my mind over time.

However, after a long absence from that location, I recently found out that the cactus had been since removed, and an advertisement post was in its place. A current Google Street View image with a capture date in June 2014 still shows its existence.

I had made a card out of an inverted image from the photo above to go with a Shirley Chisholm Black Heritage Forever stamp. "Unbought and Unbossed", this cactus is just a perfect example that one can still have a long lasting positive impact on others, even her physical existence has been destroyed.

Sunset Over Sabang Bay, Indonesia

Postcard US-2293197 to Michigan shows a beautiful sunset view over Sabang Bay in Aceh Province, Indonesia. It was one of those postcards I bought when I was volunteering in Banda Aceh, Indonesia in 2005. A similar card was featured in this blog last year for the International Day for Disaster Reduction, which was designated as October 13 by the UN General Assembly in 2009, replacing the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction that was part of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction in the 1990s. The theme for 2014 is "Resilience is for Life."

Best known for snorkeling and diving, Sabang Bay is located on the north side of Pulau Weh, an island north of Banda Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra. On the sidebar of the postcard, Rubiah Island, Ulee-Lheu Beach, Lhok Seudu Beach, and Lhok Nga Beach are shown from top to bottom.

Cape Reinga, New Zealand

Postcard NZ-107618 from New Zealand shows a sunset view of Cape Reinga, the northwesternmost tip of the Aupouri Peninsula, at the northern end of the North Island of New Zealand. In native Māori culture, the cape is where the spirits of the dead leap into the underworld.

Cape Reinga is on the tentative list of UNESCO's World Heritage Site, waiting to receive formal recognition. The cape is already a favorite tourist attraction, receiving over 120,000 visitors per year and around 1,300 cars per day during peak season. However, similar to the Key West bouy, the cape is not the northernmost point of the North Island, and thus, of mainland New Zealand, contrary to the common belief. North Cape's Surville Cliffs, 30 kilometers or 18.6 miles east of Cape Reinga, are slightly further north.

Sunset over Kinko-wan Bay and Mount Sakurajima in Japan

Postcard JP-562080 from Japan was a jumbo picture card measured at 16cm x 25cm, showing a beautiful sunset view at Kinko-wan Bay and Mount Sakurajima in Japan. Sakurajima (桜島), meaning "Cherry Island", is an active composite volcano (stratovolcano) and a former island in Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu, Japan. The lava flows of the 1914 eruption caused the former island to be connected with the Osumi Peninsula, according to Wikipedia.

The postcard came with four Japanese Furusato (hometown) stamps: two showing Mount Tanigawa in Gunma Prefecture (above); the other two showing Mount Fuji, a World Heritage Site, on the border of Shizuoka and Yamanashi Prefectures (below).

Tamsui, Taiwan

Postcard TW-908889 from Taiwan offers an aerial view from the north of Tamsui District (淡水區) in New Taipei City, Taiwan. It is a sea-side district where the Tamsui River, whose name means "fresh water", flows west into the Taiwan Strait. As a natural harbor, Tamsui was a major fishing and trade port in history because of its proximity to mainland China.

Twenty six years ago, the Tamsui Line,  a railroad branch line operated by the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) and connected Taipei and Tamsui, closed on July 15, 1988. The Taipei Metro Tamsui Line was later built along the route. Upon the completion of the Metro Line in 1997, Tamsui experienced a dramatic increase of tourist traffic. Tamsui is popular for viewing the sunset into the Taiwan Strait, for various activities on several riverside parks, and for shopping at open-air markets specializing in traditional handicrafts and street-vendor snacks. Visitors can also visit a fisherman's wharf, and take ferries traversing across and along the river.

Tamsui is home to three universities: Aletheia University, Tamkang University, and St. John's University. On the upper left of the postcard, Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) can be seen in the background.

All In or Nothing

Expired postcard US-2293198 to Ukraine, sent on June 28, 2013, was about to enter the postcard graveyard after 365 days. It features a fantastic sunset view of the famous music water fountain at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino, with a column of gaming-chip styled tokens to spell out "Las Vegas."

At the 2014 FIFA World Cup yesterday, USA lost to Germany 0:1. However, helped by the result of the match between Portugal and Ghana, Team USA still advanced to the next round. It sounds like a typical Las Vegas story: you try hard, but may still lose; yet with a little luck, you may still come out ahead.

So, give your best shot, and leave the rest. #allinornothing

Unbought and Unbossed

Postcard US-2692593 to the United Kingdom shows an inverted image of a cactus grown in Las Vegas, Nevada. I pass this location often when I go to a gym in the evening. I have been fascinated by the ever changing impressions of the cactus against the evening skies.

The postcard had a Shirley Chisholm Black Heritage Forever stamp and was sent to Brooklyn, NY along with several items for a first-day-of-issue postmark on April 1, 2014. However, it took a detour to Trenton, and Bellmawr, NJ after it already reached Brooklyn, NY on April 3, 2014. It was finally delivered at Brooklyn, NY on April 10, 2014. I am curious what happened between April 3 and April 10, 2014. 

Shipment Activity	Location	Date & Time
Delivered	BROOKLYN, NY 11256	April 10, 2014 9:54 am
Arrival at Post Office	BROOKLYN, NY 11256	April 10, 2014 9:47 am
Depart USPS Sort Facility	BROOKLYN, NY 11256	April 10, 2014
Processed through USPS Sort Facility	BROOKLYN, NY 11256	April 10, 2014 4:33 am
Depart USPS Sort Facility	BELLMAWR, NJ 08031	April 5, 2014
Processed through USPS Sort Facility	BELLMAWR, NJ 08031	April 5, 2014 5:38 pm
Depart USPS Sort Facility	TRENTON, NJ 08650	April 5, 2014
Processed through USPS Sort Facility	TRENTON, NJ 08650	April 5, 2014 3:41 am
Arrive USPS Sort Facility	BROOKLYN, NY 11256	April 3, 2014 7:14 am
Depart USPS Sort Facility	FLUSHING, NY 11351	April 3, 2014 6:22 am
Depart USPS Sort Facility	FLUSHING, NY 11351	April 3, 2014
Processed through USPS Sort Facility	FLUSHING, NY 11351	April 3, 2014 2:45 am
Electronic Shipping Info Received		April 2, 2014
Processed at USPS Origin Sort Facility	LAS VEGAS, NV 89120	April 2, 2014 12:15 am
Dispatched to Sort Facility	LAS VEGAS, NV 89199	April 1, 2014 6:15 pm
Acceptance	LAS VEGAS, NV 89199	April 1, 2014 5:32 pm

From the World Trade Center in 1994

I received an email today from TouchNote today, saying "it's been over a year since you sent this photo as a Touchnote postcard! It's probably still out on display somewhere being enjoyed, too! Why not make someone's day with another postcard?"

The postcard shows a sunset view from the top of the World Trade Center at Lower Manhattan in New York City, overlooking the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, 20 years ago in 1994 when I first visited the Big Apple. The original World Trade Center featured landmark twin towers, opened on April 4, 1973 and destroyed in the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Orchid Island Scenery of Taiwan

Postcard TW-1105414 from Taiwan shows a beautiful sunset view of Orchid Island (蘭嶼), a volcanic island in Taitung County off the southeastern coast of Taiwan. The island is home to the aboriginal Tao (達悟族), an ethnic minority group who migrated to the island from the Batan Archipelago 800 years ago. Out of a total current population of 4,000, approximately 2,400 belong to the aboriginal Tao, who are Austronesian people linguistically and culturally closer to the Ivatan people of the Batanes islands in the Philippines. The rest 1,600 are Han Chinese.

The island has been a nuclear waste storage site at its southern tip since 1982, with 100,000 barrels of nuclear waste from Taiwan's three nuclear power plants. Following years of protests by local residents since 2002, demands to remove the nuclear waste have intensified after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011.

The card came with a newly issued the Year of the Horse stamp by the Chunghwa POST.

Four Seasons in Japan

I received this thank-you card from Japan for one of my official PostCrossing card. It shows four major landmarks in Japan in four seasons.

Top-left shows the Kinkaku-ji Temple in winter; top-right is the Himeji-jo Castle in spring. Sunset at the Toji-no-toh Pagoda  shows on the lower-left; the famous Mt. Fuji and Kawaguchi-ko Lake in the fall is on the lower-right.