So, I’m off to a slow start. No,
this isn’t a political gesture. It’s personal.
Letters to friends. You know,
written-down-on paper expressions of feelings and half-constructed beliefs that
mark your time on Earth better than any other mode of activity. So much so that
those letters received from a person on that particular path – that is,
reaching out in an unselfish, giving way, being open and vulnerable and funny
and doubt-ridden – are kept as intimate treasures.
I’ve got the bug. And the tool,
or at least the most important one: the pen that writes for eternity. (See prior
blogpost called On Writing – Letters, That Is.)
This weekend (Aug. 4-6) I’ll get
the rest of the gear: colored paper (my pen leaves pencil-like impressions so
the letter will be much easier to read if I write on bright orange stock, or
maroon, if I can find it.) Maroon and gray (the pencil color) – team colors of the University of Ottawa
Gee-Gees – will make for a nice effect. Not my alma mater (I went to rival Carleton),
but I did prefer the look of their sports uniforms.
And stamps. Some for my Canadian
correspondents and some for my American ones. I’ve my eye on a pal in Paris,
too. The guy I have in mind strikes me as someone who would like the idea of this.
I will not keep a copy of what I
write, though. You’d think I would but no. I write not for posterity. To think
that my letters will survive me. Rather, I’m charmed by the thought that these
letters are my own personal Tibetan sand drawings. Once they leave my desk and
go off in the post, they are gone. It will be enough to feel the sense of them in the replies, the
ones I hope to find in my mailbox. And those, I can assure you, I will keep.
One day, perhaps, I will visit
one of my “lettermates” and we will bring with us our mutual cache of written
treasures to a neutral meeting place and exchange the physical objects for a
day. Maybe even agree to exchange our letters for a time. Say a month, or a
year, and see how that feels.
Afterward, we will restore the
letters to their rightful owner. As we continue to build more.
Next: Running for Your Life: “Chillest”
Triathlon Ever
