Big Old Poe-try Bundle

Hi Friends, 

Yesterday I mailed off the February bundle, and had three things in my mailbox for the March bundle when I got back. It was the first day I could get out of the driveway in the snow! We hardly ever get snow here, so it was very exciting, and the kids could hardly come inside. I stayed in, stuffing this enormous bundle. I hate to play favorites, but this is a good one, folks. We went over the weight limit for a "letter" and into "large envelope" territory. Which led me to think this: I have a box of large envelopes that Ivan gave to me in case we ever wanted to have a larger bundle, and maybe that should be the next themed bundle that we have. Or not so much a theme as just "make it big," or "stuff the bundle." Is anyone interested in a one-time larger format? I'll see if I hear anything back. We could plan in for sometime this summer. 

I think it's fun to have themed bundles, and I'm happy that so many of us responded to this one, although I was disappointed that no one wrote a scary story (well, maybe Ron Hylton, but I won't spoil any surprises). I didn't think I had anything to say about Edgar Allen Poe, but then something came along just in time, in the form of a friend on a porch in a bird beak. The only other thing that I remember is that in college I was in a number of classes with a very thoughtful, smart young man from Japan, named Nao. I have always loved being friends with people from other countries, in part because I love the way they express themselves in English, or have a way of questioning things that we take for granted. He asked one day in a literature class why people who don't read any other classic author still usually read Poe. I don't remember how we all tried to explain it to him, and I'm not sure how I would explain it now, but it's a question I have thought of so many times over the years. Like a question from another Japanese friend, who asked what the dragonfly symbolized to Americans, because she had seen so many dragonfly tattoos on American women. 

The best news of the month is that by March, Ivan will be vaccinated and ready to do laps again around my lonely dining room table. The corresponding bad news is that I'll have to start cleaning my house again I guess.

There are really beautiful things in the bundle and I'm excited for it to get to all of you. Heather