About four weeks ago on a sunny day I photographed my favorite neighborhood birdhouse (“The Hippie Camper”) with its swirling paint job and back end which has come unattached at the base. I’m thinking birds live here no more. The following week the snow came. Birds probably still didn’t seek shelter here, but who knows?
I got to thinking about birdhouses on stamps. Were there any? I explored a bit and found two (Denmark and Great Britain). That’s a small number compared to the many, many birdhouses in my neighborhood, but it’s a start. Perhaps you know of more and can let me know.
And how about stamps on birdhouses?
One of the highpoints of the early morning walks my wife and I take is a stretch of chain link fence that hosts Morning Glories in different shades. The 
fence bounds part of the scenic school property I mentioned in a 
Wikipedia
Summer slips into Autumn, nights and mornings are growing cooler. The photos shown above were taken about three weeks ago, and now the blossoms are turning in on themselves. I’ll miss that abundance of color we saw on Summer mornings.
And did you know the pecan isn’t a nut? It’s a member of the hickory genus and is a drupe, a fruit with a single pit surrounded by a husk.
there (on stamps), but unexpectedly there is one near me, though without any nesting goats—at least none that I’ve seen.
Many people, including stamp collectors, find the stamps of the Netherlands a bit too avante-garde, but I’ve always admired how their designers push “the boundaries.” This sheet from 2006 contains five stamps for ordinary mail use within the Netherlands. It would’ve been easier to put multiple copies of the stamp on a sheet side-by-side, and certainly more economical. The Netherlands, however, chose to do more by making a sheet whose title “Beautiful Netherlands” (Mooi Nederland) is composed of perforated letters. And in addition to the playful Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) with a camera around its neck on each stamp, other images of the wildlife and natural beauty of 
It’s been almost two months since my last post. With the Corona Virus pandemic necessitating staying at home as much as possible, you’d think I’d be posting more. No excuses.
For me, being outside is a good antidote to the claustrophobic feelings that so easily take hold these days. Fortunately, across the street from my home are the playing fields for two schools located side-by-side on a large tract of land that was once an “estate.” The trees there always lift my spirits. There are many beautiful mature species. And I’m fascinated by so many differing characteristics.
My brother occasionally joins me for a walk through these fields, identifing the trees. The one shown here captivated me recently for its sheer grandeur. I wondered what it was. Its leaves looked like those on another tree my brother had identified as a 
the tree in the photograph had leaves in clusters of seven. The Horse Chestnut my brother had pointed out had clusters of five leaves. Researching Horse Chestnut trees I discovered that they come in both clusters of five and seven leaves, so I believe I’ve now identified this tree.
looks foreboding. However, the inner brown nut is quite beautiful, but I learned that it’s not for consumption.
some of those stamps are shown here. Monaco issued four stamps, each showing a tree detail in one of the four seasons. I can only conclude that others have found this tree as uplifting as I have. Your thoughts?
The design was derived from the red 2-cent stamp of the Washington Bicentennial Issue of 12 stamps that were issued on January 1. It was established policy to have our first president appear on stamps paying the first class letter postal rate, which on July 6 changed from 2 to 3 cents.
the same precancel marking but is also a 
A ride on the 
the raised driver’s bench of the electric car (4¢ stamp). I wonder how fast it could travel—probably not fast at all, especially considering the roads of the time. This particular car was passing in front of the Capitol, and I think it would be fantastic to experience Washington at that time.
Rooting through a box of used U.S. stamps, the cancellations on the three stamps shown here called out to me. The purple Iowa Territory Centennial issue of 1938 is cancelled with the classic numbered shoe-print killer. One look makes it clear why this cancel is called a killer. The barred elliptical mark cancel was invented by John Goldsborough of Philadelphia, and his device, first used in 1875, became the most widely used in the U.S. It’s actually one part of a duplex cancel with part of the circle defining the other portion of the cancel seen on the left side of the stamp. That circle contained the name of the post office where the stamp was cancelled as well as the date. The information is too light to see clearly here, but for me the visual appeal is the powerful black shoe-print killer overlaying the deep purple stamp.
was the green 1951 Centennial of the Settlement of Nevada stamp. The cancel doesn’t have the visual appeal of the Iowa Centennial stamp, but the slogan is spot-on appropriate for the scene that includes forested mountains in a rugged western landscape: “Remember Only you can PREVENT FOREST FIRES.” That slogan was adopted by the Smokey Bear campaign in 1947 and continued more than five decades.
Finally, there’s the 2¢postage due stamp from the 1984-95 Bureau of Engraving and Printing series. The strong PHILADELPHIA PA precancel overlaying the rich intricate claret design is for me a thing of beauty. Though the stamp is nicked along the top edge, it’s the visual power of the stamp/cancel combination I find so satisfying.
It would seem ludicrous that postage stamps could be the antidote, but I’ve written previously about their uplifting power (February 5, 2019, December 13, 2018).
The prescription I’m benefiting from now is a regimen of children’s art on stamps. Children are far less tethered to cares of life than those of us who have lived the years. Children live their dreams–in color, in joy, in exuberance, in faith and 
belief, and in knowing.
no effectiveness expiration date. They are, however, “Best used today…and regularly in the future.” The children were charged with imaging the coming millennium. Their visions are awash in color and vitality.
From early in 1921 to late in 1923 Germany experienced one of the worst periods of inflation in history. For example, to mail a postcard locally at the beginning of 1921 the postage required was 30 pfennig. In December of 1923 the cost to mail that same postcard was 16 billion marks.
on stamps has also always fascinated me. The combination of the repeated numeral “5” and the column numerals (9, 2, 3, 4) from the stamp sheets shown in the close-up creates a striking visual for me.