The Lost Art of Sending Christmas Cards

When I was a child during Christmas time the wall in our living room was covered with dozens of Christmas cards. As kids we always knew Christmas was just around the corner when that first card came in the mail. Usually they started arriving shortly after Thanksgiving and by the end of December, my mother had quite a collection. They were from relatives, neighbors, friends, and co-workers of my parents. Even from the mailman and newspaper boy!

I moved into my own apartment when I was twenty-two years old. Every year I bought a load of Christmas cards and sent them to just about everyone I knew. I never sent the same design two years in a row, so I always had several boxes on hand. I’d hit up the after Christmas sales and buy more boxes for the following year. Christmas cards were everywhere. I also had one of those cloth Christmas trees tacked to the back of my front door. It filled quickly with big cards, little cards, cards covered in glitter (that usually got all over the floor when I opened the envelope), pop-up cards, and even a few of those photo cards of families wearing matching snowmen sweaters.

Fast forward to 2011. We are less than a week away from Christmas and I have only one card sitting on my TV stand. It is from my parents. Up until about three years ago I continued to send out dozens of Christmas cards. However, it reached a point when I would send out a handful of cards and I would get maybe one or two in return. It’s not that I send cards to get cards, but it’s nice to see that red or green envelope sticking out of the mailbox. I always got that little twinge in my tummy before I turned the envelope over. Who is it from? It was a nice surprise, because it meant someone was thinking about me and acknowledging my efforts to send them a card, but now that gesture goes unnoticed.

Rarely does anyone make the time and effort to hand-write a bunch of cards, address the envelopes, stick on a stamp, and take them to the post office. Now, I get the ubiquitous “Merry Christmas” message on my Facebook page or an e-card in my email that’s been forwarded to a hundred people. Sending Christmas cards has become a lost art. And with that Christmas has become incredibly impersonal.

I wasn’t planning on sending out any Christmas cards this year, but then I thought, “why not?” I still have plenty of cards in my desk drawer. Maybe if someone sees that little colored envelope in their mail it might just put a smile on their face. I know I’ll be smiling as I drop all those envelopes into the mailbox and I’ll feel better knowing I made the effort to make Christmas personal again.

Downtime at the Beach

I haven't done much photography over the last couple of weeks, so I went to La Jolla Cove to check out the scene and hopefully get some shots of the sunset.  As far as sunsets go, it wasn't all that fantastic, but I found a quiet stretch of shoreline and had some downtime for myself.  It was very relaxing to snap a few photos, watch the waves rolling in, snap a few more shots, and just relax.