Postcards from the Edge

I like postcards a lot.

The first postcard I remember getting was in Nashville; it was beautiful. This was a calendar, but I thought it was a postcard. It had fireworks on it. It had the Tennessee Waltz Ride, Flowers, Buildings, etc. But the very first ACTUAL postcard I picked out was in Dollywood and it was of Dolly Parton.

If I could say anything to Dolly right now, I would say,” Thank you for letting me go to Dollywood. I enjoyed it and had a good time.”

Sometimes I get postcards from places I travel: Dollywood, Junaluska. I look for different things in postcards.

I get neat postcards. If I like it, I get it.

I like good pictures like Disney that are beautiful, hard, wooden and other specialty postcards like the ones I got from Pam and Derrick from other countries.

I get ‘em from other people.

Sometimes I get my postcards from Florida—Universal and Disney. I get some from other countries from my friend Sandy—she gives me bunches from all over: Canada, I’m assuming like Mexico, Italy, India. Sandy Katz showed me a different way to collect postcards. It has a lot to do with our friendship. I like these postcards a lot.

I collect postcards ‘cause it’s very interesting. Sandy gave me some postcards and I liked them and thought it might be a good idea to start collecting them.

Brandon and Kristen brought me tons of postcards back from all the states they traveled along Route 66.

Some of the old ones I have from Mom are in covers so they stay protected and so they don’t get dirty. It’s hard sometimes to make sure you don’t have a repeat. What if I already have what I looking at now at home? I’ll say I have this already…

My favorite postcard----whooooo, whooo, whooooo—I have a LOT! Well, my favorite one would be… some of the sunsets from Florida, some of the nighttime scenes in Florida—I love the landscapes. I’m not really sure why. I just like them because they’re beautiful, I guess.

If I could choose a postcard from anywhere in the world, I would choose one from Mexico.

But, of the places in the world I haven’t been, I would want one from Japan. It’s just a different culture… Japan in EPCOT is beautiful.

If I could say anything to someone in Japan…  I would say, “Hello!” and “How is Japan?” because I would want to know about their culture. I would like to know if it’s very different than ours. How different is their country than the US? I would also want to know their favorite place to go.

And I would want to tell them to let me know if they’re ever in Charleston and I’d take them out to eat. Maybe to one of my favorite Southern staples—Harvest Moon or Easterby’s if it’s a Tuesday or Mexican any other day—Rio Chicco’s or Sr. Tequila or Los Reyes.

Why Postcards?  Because they’re beautiful and the technique. Because I can’t take pictures, it’s my way of remembering a specific place the way I see it. Some have paintings and are embossed so I can feel them.

I collect them because it’s a lot of fun and they are easy to find wherever you go.

~ John Joyner