Letter #277 from Massachusetts

Letter #277 comes from Michele in Massachusetts.Michele actually found out about our project through postcrossing when she was matched up with Brian from Jefferson City,MO who wrote to us months ago and had our project in his profile....how sweet of him to do that!Michele loves to write letters and has over 60 penpals around the world.She is also penpals with a writer for Home Education Magazine that wrote an article about us,but I haven't been able to find the issue,not even at our library,so if you have the issue (Sept/Oct),please let us know,we'd really like to have it to keep.I have even emailed the writer but haven't heard back. :(

Michele lives twenty miles south of Boston.Her small town has a population of 17,000 people and a total area of 10.1square miles.The terrain is very rocky,which they learned the hard way when they had their swimming pool installed.They often see deer,coyote and turkey roaming around their yard.Their dog,named Niko,who weighs 140 pounds (yikes,that's one BIG dog!) usually scares off the animals....well,who would want to mess with a dog that big?

She says that they don't visit Boston as much as she'd like to,even though it's less than thirty minutes when taking the ferry,then going by car or train.She also said that she lives 45 miles north of Cape Cod,which is a very popular tourist destination for people near and far.When she wrote the letter,the Obamas had been there the week before.She said that the Cape has beautiful homes and landscaping,and her favorite flower,which is the hydrangea....that's one of my faves,too. :) You can also see white sand beaches,shellfish and lighthouses.There are also said the stores are so quaint.Those are my kinds of shops.The only way to get to the cape is by crossing the Sagamore or Bourne Bridge or you could take a small,but inconvenient back road if you don't like bridges.

Michele has two daughters and she told us that her oldest was getting her first job at The Paper Store.That would be a dream job for me...I would probably spend all my money at my job since I love pretty paper.It must be a fun job,I hope she is enjoying it.She plans to go to cosmotology school after graduation.Her second daughter is very active in cheerleading and does competitive cheerleading.I actually wanted to be a cheerleader so badly when I was younger but I couldn't even do a split and I was scared of heights,so I decided against even trying out. :) She hopes to attend school for nursing.

Michele works full time as a legal assistant and wishes she had more hands to help her juggle her job,family,pets,and the house.She lives close to work so at least she doesn't have to spend a lot of time commuting back and forth.In February they were a host family to two boys from Austria.Seh said it was an awesome experience!She said they were there for a hockey tournament.They had a blast showing the boys around,meeting other host families and watching hockey.She said their native language is German and at age 10,they start learning English.It must have been an experience just having boys in the house since they are so different than girls.

Michele loves the fall season and loves to buy apples to make apple crisp.She said she loves fall and everything to do with it.I know we love the crisp cool air and the brightly colored fall leaves.

Thanks Michele for your lovely letter and postcards.She included two postcards of Boston....one shows the Public Gardens,which our previous writer from MA talked about and also a print out of the popular ducks,which can all be seen below:

Letter #276 from Pennsylvania

Letter #276 comes from Rossana in Pennsylvania.Yes,another lovely letter from that great state!Rossana is a homeschooler like us and has four daughters.She has always homeschooled all of her children.

She said that they recently had a relative visit them and he rode bicycles with the girls and it got her started riding bikes around again.She bought a trailer to attach to her bike so she could take her youngest daughter with her since she is too small for a bicycle.They plan to ride to local places together,which is a great way to spend time with family,get exercise and save gas and money.One of the places they like to ride to is the library...while we live really close to our library,it's on a major highway so it's not safe for us to ride anywhere,which is a real bummer.

They spent their summer swimming and visiting the library.She says they had just finished doing a flat stanley project with a library in Wisconsin.When we were on our first round of homeschooling,we used to participate a lot in flat stanley projects and I actually still have them after  9 years!It was a really fun project that my girls really enjoyed.I think it's great that the libraries joined together to do this....wish ours did something fun like that.They also have participated in postcard projects and have received postcards from Spain,Germany and London.She said that they are also planning to do a leaf exchange but didn't have the details about it at the time she wrote the letter.

Rossana was very creative with her letter and wrote on various pieces of paper,such as receipts from the library,a chuck e cheese photo paper that didn't print a picture.She also wrote on a postcard from a sculpture garden they visited and also another postcard from another event.She also included a lot of stickers from fruit and veggies that they have collected.She said that they are edible,but I still would rather not eat them on purpose. :) I had to do a double take for the sticker on the bottom corner because I thought they actually were able to buy and then eat black bear,but then I realized it was black bear turkey. :) She even recycled their children's museum brochure and used it as an envelope. :)

Thanks Rossana for your lovely letter and goodies,which can be seen below:

Letter #275 from Pennsylvania

Letter #275 comes from Phoebe in Pennsylvania.Phoebe is a live -in nanny for two children,although one just left for college.She has been with the family for eighteen years.She lives just outside of Philadelphia.They also have a yellow lab dog named Winnie and also a fluffy orange cat named Snicklefritz (I wonder if they got the name from the kids show called "The Big Comfy Couch"). :) The dog loves to chase the cat around,but the cat doesn't like it and tries to hide from him.

Phoebe has been able to travel to different places with the family.She has been to different places in the US,Europe,and also Anguilla,which is a small island in the western Carribean.She loves to travel and see new places.One of her favorite things to do when she is in a foreign country is visit the grocery store....she loves to see their different foods and packaging.

Phoebe's hobbies include papercrafting (mostly making cards and a little scrapbooking),making baby quilts,reading,baking,and sending postcards through postcrossing.She also enjoys sending letters,cards and care packages to deployed troops.She belongs to a couple of military support organizations,such as Tell Them Thanks and Soldiers' Angels.

When Phoebe wrote our letter,she had recently visited the Philadelphia Zoo.They try to visit once a year,but didn't make it last year.She loves seeing all of the animals,her favorite animals are the cats.There is a baby jaguar at the zoo that was born in the beginning of June,so she was very excited to see the new baby and thought it was so cute!Of all the cats,tigers are her favorite because of their coloring.She did say that she doesn't like reptiles,so she never visits the reptile house when they go. :) She asked us if we are near any zoos.We actually never visited our zoo,but have enjoyed the National Zoo in Washington,DC and plan to visit it again when we go back to DC next year since we really loved that zoo and the admission price is great-it's free! :)

Along with Phoebe's lovely letter,she included some stickers,confetti that came out when we opened the envelope (that's always a nice surprise),a brochure and postcard from the zoo,pics of her and the kids which I will leave out for privacy reasons and a pic of her cat and dog.Thanks Phoebe for the great letter and goodies,which can be seen below:

Letter #274 from California

Letter #274 comes from Everett in California.Everett is named after his great-great-grandfather and lives in the Mojave Desert in Southern California.He is fifteen years old and a sophomore in high school.He has one sister and one brother and a chihahua named Jane Doe. :)

He likes to read,write,travel,write letters,act and learn languages (he thought that it may sound bizarre to us as a hobby,but we don't think so at all).Everett can speak German and is learning Swedish on the side and will be taking Russian in school next year.Go Everett!I think all kids should be encouraged to learn another language,it will definitely make travelling to another country much more enjoyable and less stressful when you know the native language.Plus, you can communicate with the people that live there and find out things that you may have missed out on if you didn't speak the language.It will also open the door to many great jobs if you can speak several languages.I find it fascinating when people are tri-lingual (or more) because I think it's great when people do something extra they don't have to do,but do it to gain more knowledge.

Everett likes to collect coins,banknotes (he even graciously gave us a $2 bill!) and stamps (we love those,too).He says he was in four plays last year and had another audition...hope he got the part!The play was Robin Hood....wonder if he was trying for the lead role?

He says that he lives in the desert,where the temps have been in the 100's!He talked about it cooling down and that was to 102°! :) He also mentioned that he lives where there are Joshua Trees,which grow nowhere else in the world.The only thing I know about them was from Pearl Jam,I think,or was it another group that had the cd called The Joshua Tree.

Everett typed our letter on his grandfather's old typewriter from the 1950's.He calls it a dinosaur. :) I happen to love typewriters,too and have a small collection myself.I think they are great for letters since it's something people don't expect others to use anymore.Everett loves writing letters so much that he thinks that half the mail that comes out of Southern California is from him!Way to go....wish everybody was as loyal a letter writer as him so we can save our beloved postal system.I love letters and writing so you won't see me tweeting or texting (never did both) and I don't really care for email as my main communication with people.I think when you write a letter to someone it shows a real concern about that person and that you can form a deeper relationship with that person than by reading emails which can sometimes be interpreted incorrectly,unless you were to put a sad or smiley face by the comment to help the reader know what you meant. :)

Everett included a picture of a Joshua tree,another one that shows the area he lives in,one of the state flag,a $2 bill for us to start our own collection,some bubble wrap for us to have fun with and his little sister wanted us to have a beautiful green feather.Thanks Everett for your letter and goodies...we love them all!Also,best of luck to you in school and learning different languages.Keep working hard,you sound like you will be a very successful adult!Enjoy pictures of his letter and goodies below:

Letter #273 from Massachusetts

Letter #273 comes from Stephanie in Massachusetts.She lives just ten minutes outside of Boston.She was born and raised in Weymouth,a large town about ten minutes north of where she currently lives....so she hasn't gone far. :) She says that she feels very lucky to be living in the birthplace of America.I couldn't agree more,it must be a great place to live since there is so much history around you all the time....who could get bored there?

She recalls school field trips including one to the Swan Boats in Boston's Public Garden,where you can see a bronze replica of the ducks from the children's book titled,"Make Way for Ducklings".I believe,if I read it correctly,that the ducks were decked out in Bruins gear when they won the Stanley Cup.I wish I could have seen that....too cute!There is also another popular place called The Boston Common,a large grassy park area enjoyed by many when the weather is nice.It includes a frog pond that becomes a skating rink in the winter...all of this in the shadow of the golden dome of Boston's State House.Stephanie says that their original state house,just down the hill from there was replicated by their own Weymouth Town Hall.

Other interesting places she noted that must be seen upon a trip to Boston is The Freedom Trail,a walking path through all the historic sites including Paul Revere's ride,down to Plymouth Plantation and Plymouth Rock.They are also rich in culture and museums,such as Symphony Hall and The Hatch Shell.She also noted that they are home to some of the best colleges,universities and hospitals in the country.

She says that the four seasons there are wonderful.Winter can be extreme,but she wouldn't trade it for anything.It was a wonderful place for her to grow up and has fond memories of the beach,snow,fall foliage, beautiful spring flowers,rich history and beautiful,old homes.Every where you go,there is something to see.I think Stephanie did her state and country proud because you can tell she truly loves where she lives and tries to take in everything the area offers,which is amazing.

Thanks Stephanie for your lovely letter,which can be seen below:

Letter #272 from Australia

Letter #272 comes from Helen in Australia.Helen lives in a rural area in Southern Tasmania.Tasmania is the island off the south coast of the mainland of Australia.Tasmania is a very popular tourist destination as most of the island is a National Park,with one-fourth of the state being inhabitable wilderness.

Tasmania is also the native home of the Tassie Devil and Helen says that he is just as bad as his cartoon namesake. ;) She says they make a screeching noise when they get angry....probably like in the picture below. :)

Helen has enclosed some photos of Tasmania for us,including the beautiful beach of Wineglass Bay on the east coast,one of the typical rainforest terrain in the west coast area,a picture of the town she lives in (looks like the view of a postcard...so beautiful!) and also a picture of the lovely Tasmanian Devil that looks like someone has just made him angry! :)

Thanks Helen for your lovely letter and photos,which can be seen below: