Remember to play

It's too bad we have to grow up and forget how to play and how to be amused by simple activities.  Hey, that sounds like a good theme for today's post!

"Children Playing on the Beach" (1884) by Mary Cassatt.  Remember when a bucket and some sand could keep you occupied for hours?  If you are tired of mowing your lawn, simply cover it all with sand and go buy yourself a bucket and a shovel.  And stop worrying about what the neighbors think.

From Finland, an old picture from the 50's.  I had to laugh at what the sender wrote.  She told me she is not fond of skiing but did ski 70 km. the previous week when she was on holiday in Lapland. Doesn't that sound like an awfully long way to ski if you don't like skiing?  Imagine the ground she could have covered if she enjoyed skiing.

A somewhat older child all dressed up and blowing into a goatskin.  It's probably best to not get your children bagpipes for Christmas, unless you plan to move away and leave the children behind.

After a hard day of play, it's always nice to be tucked into bed by Mommy & Daddy. This 1943 Norman Rockwell painting is called "Freedom From Fear" and was inspired by President Roosevelt's Four Freedoms Proclamation. Dad is holding a wartime newspaper with a headline about bombings. I think he has just stepped on and killed his daughter's favorite doll.

Animals never seem to forget how to be playful. It is unfortunate if you are sitting on a horse when he decides it's playtime and very humiliating when he laughs at you afterward.  Best to stick with ferrets, since they are too small to ride and are endlessly amusing.

You're never too old for cartoons.  This card from Finland shows a couple of the very popular "Moomin"  characters created by Tove Jansson. Moomins are white trolls (the good kind). The Moomin books have been translated into 44 languages, so I was surprised that the first I'd ever heard of them was when I received this card. For a very amusing guide to the various Moomin characters and their world, read this Tor.com article.  Otherwise, you won't know the difference between a Snorfmaiden and a Mymble.  Now that would be embarrassing.

From The Netherlands comes this card reminding us that we're never to old to sit in a swing and dream.  This is an untitled painting by Michel Rauscher.

Your assignment for the day is to GO HAVE SOME FUN!!

Different views

Junior (above) is just peeking in to say hi. Me too.

Today I'm going to share some of the multi-view cards I've collected. I have mixed feelings about this type of card.  Sometimes I think it's nicer to see one large photo rather than several small ones.  On the other hand, seeing several views at once gives a better overall idea of a place.

I wonder if anyone makes multi-view postcards of all the ugly parts of a city or country. I think I'll work on making a multi-view card of all the places you don't want to visit in Salem, Oregon.

What is it about cities at night that makes them so beautiful?  Duh......it's the lights!  Here's a multi-view of München (Munich) at night.

This is a card I received just yesterday from Bojan in Varaždin, Croatia. He has his own Postcrossing site where you can see still MORE postcards.

For a complete change of scenery, let's head way south to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Wait...I have to put on some samba music first.

I'm trying to induce jet lag.  Now we're headed back to Finland. Lapland to be exact, most of which lies north of the Arctic Circle. Just what you need after leaving sunny Brazil.

And while we're visiting Finland, let's take a look at some more of its beautiful scenery.

And now back to where we started today: Germany.  The first card shows the town of Haiger and the second the town of Halle, which is where George Frideric Handel was born (Hallelujah! Hallelujah!)

Have you ever had a migraine headache?  I haven't had one in years but I still remember the feelings I'd get prior to one.  It felt like this:

Must be time to stop for the day. I'm revisiting illnesses of the past - never a good sign.