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Hope in the Mailbox

This is my mailbox. It's one of my favorite things because when I open the door after the mail carrier has stopped by, there is always something inside. There is always something to take out, something to open, something to sort through.

Anticipation is what makes the mailbox so appealing. You wait all day for the mail carrier to pull up and leave what's yours. You walk down the driveway and open the door, peak inside, and pull out the stack. Sometimes the stack is so big, it's bound with a rubber band. I throw out the KFC coupons and local bargain hunter paper and lay the rest out on the kitchen counter, like sifting for gold.

Sometimes there are so many catalogs, you can spend an entire evening flipping through them. Yes, I know. Catalogs are bad. They waste trees, and the glossy finish conflicts with recycling. But they are fun to look through anyway.

In the days when people wrote letters to each other, opening the mailbox was even more of a treat, but these days people still send cards. I get one now and then, and not just for my birthday. I get thank-you notes from people I have given gifts to. I get invitations to weddings and graduations and fund raisers. People invite me to their candle parties by sending me a postcard.

When I know something I have ordered online, because of one of those catalogs, will be delivered by mail, opening that door brings even more hope for something special to be inside, even if it's just a pair of socks.

At the moment, I am waiting to hear from a literary agent. I keep saying that I am waiting for my rejection letter, but there's always hope. There is hope in the mailbox.

Comments

dive said…
Hey,Robyn! Your mailbox is as big as my house!

I love letters. They're rare these days but they are so much nicer than electronic messages.
And Amazon packages are nice, too.
Mostly it's junk mail these days, though so when a letter does arrive it makes it so much more special.

Good luck with the literary agent, Robyn.
7:56 AM
Neponset River Bridge Dig said…
Dive always beats me at being the first to comment :)

I hope you hear some good news from the publisher. and I hate getting mail becasue nobody ever sends me a card and all I get is bills or people looking for money from me in one form or another.

The credit card companies are relentless buggers for sending preapproved credit card info etc.

Nice mailbox by the way. I just have one of those old slots in my front door. So sometimes the mail gets pretty wrinkled up trying to fit through and then plop to the floor.
8:17 AM
Gina said…
That is a really cool mailbox!

I feel the same way, you never know exactly what's gonna be in there.

I hope you get some great news!
10:15 AM
Cheltenhamdailyphoto said…
There is hope, Robyn. I'm up to my 7th rejection letter, but fear not! J. K. Rowling had 12! How sick must those agents feel now huh.
2:01 PM
Maria said…
That is one fancy ass mailbox! Mine is a plain white metal box.

And I have a deep seated love of catalogs. I have this game where I pretend that I have unlimited money and get to pick one thing from each page....

I have 14 rejection letters, so I beat Rowling....but hey, Dr. Seuss had 82!

And if it is a for a magazine...they are much easier to get published in. Good luck.
4:32 PM
Cheltenhamdailyphoto said…
Wow the Dr. Seus thing is the best news i've had all day. Thanks for that. Now i have more than five to go before i feel a failure!
6:54 PM
Miz Minka said…
Great post, Robyn! And what a mailbox, wow...

I too remember the days when people still wrote real letters (I was one of them, and I loved receiving them). Catalogs I'm not crazy about (they go straight into the dumpster), bills are a necessary evil. Cards are great, and getting a box with something I've ordered online is a little bit like Christmas. *sigh*.

And you know we're all rooting for your novel to get published!
11:02 PM
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