(What I did this spring!)
Reflections on Postcard #50:
As I was about to depart from Anchorage, Alaska, in early December 2022, my friend Brigette Humphrey said: Be sure and send a postcard when you get there!
She has been a true friend friend during a difficult time in my life.
Once in Philippines I looked at a number of places for old-fashioned postcards, and then realized it was futile. Even if I could find a suitable postcard, and could go to a post office and mail it, what would I say that mattered? This antiquated means of letting people know you have reached your destination and thought enough to scribble some words on a open forum card seemed so…inadequate.
But the post card theme is authentic. It is simple, with a message that takes one minute to read, and might be saved in a special place in the computer if you might want to read it again.
Succinct messages of discovery!
It took a while, but after some weeks I was finally able to establish this Substack Platform (http://DonnListon907.substsck.com) to publish stories of my Asian discoveries AND initiate Postcards from Philippines–not only for Brigette, but for all my readers in Alaska and Asia. It required setting up the templates for each postcard face–one side with photo and one with dialog and a variety of stamps–and a system for organizing everything so I can do it efficiently time after time.
In addition to multiple stories from Philippines, I have continued to produce Alaska stories on my primary website: http://DonnListon.co
Each Postcard from Philippines takes 1<2+ hours to produce. 50 Postcard from Philippines postings since early December has been a deliberative process from the best of the photos I have taken over December, January, February, and March.
I appreciate everyone who has continued to work with me to assure this Instructional Conservative Forum speaks truth to power. I have experienced some disappointments in Alaskans I thought were my friends when I left but that is nothing new.
Alaska looks differently from here. Everything I see is a possible postcard home.
Production rate has been about 12 postcards per month, posted M-W-F on most weeks. This being mid-July, I still need to produce postcards for April, May, June to catch up, and as many additional months as I am blessed to remain here.
Anyone in Philippines who is looking to visit Alaska should consider Brigette’s business as a wonderful place to stay.
50 Postcards from Philippines is what we in Alaska might call a Milepost. I enjoy doing them and the fact nobody has criticized them means at least I am not offending anyone. The postcards represent an accumulation of discoveries I hope my readers will enjoy.
If you would like to review previous Postcards from Philippines produced over winter, you can begin here:
Best,
DONN
