“Through rain, hail, sleet, or snow…”
Through rain, hail, sleet, or snow by Laurie Buchanan
As you’re aware, the opening line of this post is part of the United States Post Office creed, and in our neck of the woods (about an hour north of Chicago), our delivery personnel’s tenacity is tested on a frequent basis during the winter months.
We actually have two mailboxes. One at HolEssence (our place of business) where we receive advertisements, bills, and other administrative-type items…
Mailbox at HolEsxsence by Laurie Buchanan
…and one at home. After 17 years of service, Len just replaced our home mailbox with a great BIG barn red one. I love it and so does our delivery person. He listened quite patiently as I explained that he could only put really neat stuff in it!
Len installing our new mailbox by Laurie Buchanan
What’s the best thing that’s ever arrived in your mailbox?
“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”
— Laurie Buchanan
www.HolEssence.com and our Facebook page
© 2011 Laurie Buchanan – All Rights Reserved
Tuesdays with Laurie 
Awww…Len is so cute. (You can tell him we like his smile and handiness around the house.) What is the BEST thing that has arrived in the mailbox? Oh, I don’t think I could choose a best. Some of the best have been letters from my sponsored children and women in India and Ecuador and the Congo. These are special joys. Just got one from Ecuador last week. My sponsored girl, Antonella, is 17 years old and will be 18 in Novemeber on my mom’s birthday. That’s when the sponsorship ends…which is the only thing I don’t like about the program. No more letters from sweet Antonella!
Kathy – I bow in deep respect and admiration that you sponsor children in other countries.
I love surprises and anticipation, so I would say that I am expecting it to arrive shortly. But the next best thing that has already arrived was an unexpected invitation to attend the US Independence Day celebration in the Bahamas at the US Ambassadors residence. Fun!
Lisa – You’re going to have a blast! Please know that I fully intend to live through you vicariously for this event. That way I don’t get any mosquito bites 🙂
What are those things in the first photo? We hardly ever see any of these unless they are in front of the post office, which is kind of redundant, if I drive to the post office I might as well just go inside!
The best thing that has arrived were packages from you!! Full of your beautiful loving energy and wise and wondrous guidances of the Life Harmony Program !!!
Jeff – Awwwww shucks 🙂
Nice picture of Len! The best things that ever arrived in my mailbox were letters from my grandparents… I miss those arrivals!
Barbara – Oh, how lovely. I miss the days of receiving handwritten letters.
I think our children would say that the most wonderful things that come to our mailbox over the years was food! Yep having Celiac Disease meant that I had to order grains and noodles from all over the place to get Gluten Free Foods. Now even our local grocery store carries lots of kits and delights which are GF.
I used to spend all day Tuesday making bread and sandwich buns and cookies for lunches. sometimes I would spend 10 hours at the bread and end up with an inedible brick.. I have a great deal of guilt about wasting that precious flour. and expensive yeast. I had a mill stone grinder too, but I sold that when EnerG came into business in Seattle.
I just got invitations to 2 summer weddings in my box and that gave me joy and hope that a few folks are willing to risk commitment with so much uncertainty – and they give me 2 trips and out of house experiences for this summer.
Patricia – I love the remembrance that you shared here. And then two summer weddings — icing on the cake!
Well, back in the day, I remember the best thing coming in my mailbox was a tax return from the U.S. Treasury. Recently, hummmm, I dono. . . maybe a 0% interest on balance transfers?? Oh yes, and a birthday card from the my one cousin who still uses snail mail:)
Alison – Tax returns…YES!
American post boxes look too like waste bins for me – I worry people will get them mixed up.
In the post? Letter, postcards, photographs – loads of good stuff – even some money. Not lately though. The last really enjoyable letter was addressed to the breadmaker – and that’s a piece of equipment, not a person – from another breadmaker in Ireland. Ours is called Olive. My daughter chose the name. The two breadmakers write to each other occasionally, bemoan how little action they’re seeing, make snide remarks about the humans in the households and sometimes swap recipes.
Paul – Your breadmaking machine, Olive, shouldn’t be left standing like a wall flower. Take her out on the dance floor and give her a whirl — you’ll all be winners (breadwinners, that is)…
Hee Hee.
I’ll try that line out tomorrow and see what the reaction is.
Paul – Hopefully when you tried out the line on your mail carrier you didn’t get smacked for your trouble 🙂
Letters from friend….Christmas Cards……medicine…..cards…..etc….
I would say the best thing was when I would get a few letters from my elementary school teacher….a SSND nun…..every year for over 21 years. Always asking all kinds of questions, so I had to respond back right away. She is now in her eighties. I visit her once a year or more at the Motherhouse in Mankato, Minnesota.
She is an angel in the most wonderful way.
Kim – Your 80+ year old nun friend does, indeed, sound like an angel. And I’m sure she loves your annul visits 🙂
“Neither rain nor hail nor sleet nor snow nor heat of day nor dark of night shall keep this carrier from the swift completion of his appointed rounds”
Indeed Laurie. These are the words that are engraved on the massive block-long main post office in Manhattan across from Madison Square Garden. I always marveled at the sprawling script of those words, and just recently was asked by my youngest son what the words meant as we waited outside the post office while waiting to pick up my wife and daughter Melanie at the end of a Lady Ga Ga concert. I loved seeing Len with the post-box, and the front window of Holessence, and love the entire idea of this post, since so much of our lives revolves around mail deliveries.
The newest DVD arrivals are always (of course!) gleefully anticipated, and just this week we received out copies of the two most recent Criterions, the Japanese THE MAKIOKA SISTERS and the film noir, KISS ME DEADLY.
Incidentally, Laurie, I do know well how the winter months test the ‘tenacity’ of the mail carriers. This past cold season brought snow that stopped delivery in its tracks for a few days in January. Ugh.
Sam – I can just see you waiting by your mailbox with a smile of anticipation when you know a DVD is due to arrive.
Letters of acceptance . . . from anyone or anyplace for just about anything. Acceptance means that I fit in . . . somewhere with someone. Acceptance implies that I have value. Acceptance means that I am not alone — there are others like me (scary, yes?). Some of my best acceptances have come in the mail: acceptance into graduate school, acceptance for the job I now hold, acceptance of my social invitations. Acceptance brings with it a huge responsibility. I’ve got to step up to the proverbial plate and be the person who I’ve led my acceptors to believe in.
Barbara – But what if you never received any letters of acceptance? Would that mean you don’t have value? I think not!
Rather, the best determination of value comes from within. And if for some reason we don’t like what we see, then we use inner alchemy — personal transformation — and with heart-based change become the person we want to be.
Yeah — but you asked what was the best thing we received in the mail. I know that my true value comes from within. I was just responding to what value I received in the mail.
Barbara – You’re absolutely right — the question was what value you’ve received in the mail. And let me tell you right now that when (not if) a literary agent sends me a letter asking to represent my manuscript, I will feel as if my literary “validation card” has been punched 🙂
Laurie the best thing in my whole life I ever received in the mail were library books when we lived deep in the woods 80 miles from the small town of Williams Lake. We only went in once a month – which was how long we could have the library books out. We would have one package ready to send off and another would be waiting for us. We ordered the books from a catalog sent out by the Vancouver Public Library. Once I was old enough to read the descriptions I got to choose my own three books… at least I think it was three. It was a very long time ago starting from when I was four years old until I was seven. Now when I receive a book in an exchange or I have ordered one online I still get that same feeling I did then.
I love cards, gifts, postcards, letters, DVDs and gifts too but the books in the mail pull first place – right next to the letter that would be there from my grandmother that mom would read out loud on the way home as we got sleepy in the backseat of the car with the moon racing us home.
Terrill – This is a GREAT piece, I loved reading it. You wrote it in a way that I could SEE it as I read. I think you should send it to Reader’s Digest (or a magazine along those lines).
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Love the red mailbox — just wonderful! And your husband looks so happy installing it … wow, what a guy! A keeper no doubt. Have a lovely week. (starting to feel like summer here; might get to 80 degrees today 🙂 With heart, Daisy
Daisy – I’m so glad you enjoyed the photo, I had fun taking it! Len was having to dodge lots of mosquitos during the installation process. When it was done we raced inside 🙂
You’re definitely going to have to stop doing this . . .taxing my brain that is….first a magic toad potion and now to think about the best thing ever received via postal service. I can’t think of anything extra special except having a wonderful mail carrier for years and years by the name of “Rocco.” After many years he moved on to a rural route; he’s never actually truly been replaced because no one could replace the kind, funny, warm, congenial and loyal person that he was to greet us with mail daily and always beaming with a smile. Rocky rates higher than all the wonderful birthday gifts that have arrived via mail.
Thorns4roses – It sounds like Rocco was a daily dose of blessings in your neighborhood, and I’ll just bet he’s doing more of the same on his new route 😀