Mike Gold (mail jumpers)

Thank you, CathyO for alerting me to Mike Gold's IG account. He has a ton of great stuff. I love these scribble-versals. IMHO these have more of the characteristics that make them versals - especially that A. Spell check never likes the word versal. They always change it to verbal. Anyhow -- the flourishing is so fun. I plan on trying to do something similar and I already know the hard part will be running off the edge of the envelope and then back onto the envelope and keeping it smooth. The easy solution is to create the envelope on a piece of paper and then fold it. But, that won't help me get on with using up my envelopes.

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Let's dive into the folder and see if we can find some better inspiration. Then we will have a little celebration because I filled up the posts all the way to Nov 15th, 5 days before I leave on my trip. 

Oh - this is fantastic - from Atlas Obscura.

Highly recommend clicking on the link that takes you to the full story - fun and interesting.

THE TEENAGER STRADDLES THE WINDOW’S edge, calculating the distance to the dock. Dressed in a casual uniform of blue shorts and a red polo shirt, he is poised and athletic, his hand gripping a newspaper with mail nestled inside. The double-decker boat—large enough to seat 160 passengers—slows as it navigates toward the pier, but it never stops. The teenager rises and leaps from the window, right foot landing on the dock, then it’s a mad dash to the mailbox, a pivot, and another leap, left foot landing on the runner of the moving boat. The crowd cheers and the teen smiles and returns to the front, preparing for the next jump as the Walworth II delivers the U.S. mail to the waterfront residents of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

The town is the first and only one in the United States where jumpers deliver mail from a passenger-carrying mailboat, a tradition that began in 1916 when the primitive roads were too difficult to traverse. It has continued uninterrupted, May through September, for the last 105 years.

Link to mail-jumper story

Lake Geneva is a playground for people from Chicago - maybe someday I can go up there with my grandkids and see the mail jumpers in person. Oh.My.Gosh. I just checked the map and it is only 2 hours from where my grandkids live. I had no idea it was that close. We might actually make this happen.