Last year our 'holiday' card contained the collage show at the upper left. Without a lot of explanation we sort of summarized our year's travels. We went to New York to see Christo's Gates, we took a driving tour that took us to the North Coast above Boston, Maine and Niagara Falls among other places. FFP followed Ballet Austin to New York's Joyce Theater while I visited a friend in Cape Town.

This year's card is even more esoteric. A couple of photos from our Paris trip in May including the one shown at the lower left which is our reflection in a shop window and one of FFP in front of Shakespeare and Company. The photos on this year's card are against a background of showflakes provided by Snapfish. I thought it was thoughtful of the post office to have snowflake stamps this year to sort of match that theme.

I have to say that sending hundreds of snail mail greetings to friends each year is one of my favorite traditions. You keep up with people. At least, if the card doesn't come back, you feel like you know where they are even if you don't hear anything. Some even send you a card. We've gotten six so far this year.

I have written before about the kinds of things people (and businesses) send. It's really a fascinating exercise.

And so much nicer than gifting which is so fraught with expectation. Cards are just "Hi, how are you doing? This is where we are coming from...and you can toss this with impunity."

The cut line for our card this year is "We'll always have Paris!" Cards are like that concept. Little fleeting reminders of people and memories. Things you hold in your head, not in your hand.

I'm probably sending close to two hundred cards this year. For people to get a card, their addresses have to make it into my database. Addresses from invitations and thank yous and e-mails and business cards find their way onto the list. Then the XMAS column has to be filled in with a 'Y' which selects the data for mailing labels. Then, when I get to the act of applying the label to an envelope (yeah, handwriting addresses is out of the question...although I try to write a little greeting on each one), it has to feel right. Or I might not really mail it. Maybe the recepient(s) send holiday cards religiously (whether the cards are religious or not) or communicate in other ways. Maybe we go out with them or see them around and I feels right to wish them a good season. Maybe we almost never see them but wish we did. If they send us something, maybe it catches us up on their lives if only a little. And, yes, I actually read almost all those letters telling the gory details of peoples' lives and adventures. But then I read online journals, too.