Afternoon of September 16th

Morning was a bit too early for me to walk today,
but I know that one day missed is a very hard habit to break,
so we determined to get out later,

and we did.

We carried the mail up, which always brings up memories of designing this mailbox, so round and so green, covered with lichen, and the number not so much painted in white finger nail polish any more, but etched into the metal where the polish underwent some kind of stunning chemical transformation.

It was during a rough patch, when every single housebuilding thing was going wrong, and it felt like everyone was against us when the mail carrier – whom we never met – left a little sketch in the mailbox. A design improvement. A wordless message.

“I see what you’re trying to do, and even though I had to leave the “this does not conform with Post Office specifications” pamphlet, I have been thinking about how to accomplish your goals within the specs.”

Thank you, anonymous stranger, rural postal carrier, for saving our family’s morale with an act of kindness.