Summer Letter Writing Ideas

As those of us in the northern hemisphere are heading in to summer, many will have more time for writing letters. The days are longer, some are on long vacations, etc.

If you find yourself facing letterwriter's block, here are some ideas to get your next missive off to a good start:

1. Write about summer vacations -- your favorite vacation from the past, your dream vacation, etc. If you're not the vacationing type, write about why you're not taking a vacation. What do you do instead? Have you ever planned a "staycation"? Write about it in a letter!

2. Keeping cool -- Do you live in a hot climate, or is it more moderate where you live? Do you have air conditioning? What else do you do to keep cool? Go swimming, visit the museum, drink ice-cold lemonade?

3. Speaking of lemonade...write about your favorite summer snacks and beverages. What's your favorite ice cream? Cold drink? Do you have a recipe? Send it in the letter!

4. Outdoor activities — With warmer days and better weather, many people spend extra hours outdoors during the summer. What are some of your favorite outdoor activities? Softball? Tennis? Sunbathing? Gardening? Seeking shade?

5. The big picture — Summer is the time that many big, so-called block-buster movies are released. What are your favorite types of movies? Do you like action films or romances? Animation or documentary? Tell your letter's recipient all about it (just don't give away the ending!).

If your summer is jam-packed with activities, buy some postcards or small notecards for jotting off quick notes that let you stay in touch with your penpals all summer long.

(Clip art courtesy of http://www.free-clipart-pictures.net)

Letters from Camp

For those kids who are lucky enough to get to go to summer camp, the letter home is a rite of passage. Often, camps have a time of the day set aside for resting, reading and writing letters.

Nowadays, many camps have password-protected websites that parents can go to and see photos of their kids participating in various camp activities. That helps to ease the anxiety many parents feel, but it doesn't really take the place of a handwritten letter from your child.

If your child is going off to camp this summer, check to see what the options for letterwriting are. Some camps have stores with accounts that parents can put money on, so that your child can buy stamps, postcards, etc. But, there's no guarantee they won't spend all the money on T-shirts and baseball caps.

Another idea is to pack a letter writing kit, complete with stamps, stationery and envelopes pre-addressed with your address on them. Even that's no guarantee you'll get a letter, but it may increase the odds.

Maybe you'll get a letter as entertaining as the one Liesl Testwuide writes about on her website, Hairpin Turns Ahead.

Liesl Testwuide

Liesl Testwuide

Liesl Testwuide

Liesl Testwuide

Liesl Testwuide

Another article supporting handwriting

Screenshot of The New York Times article.

The New York Times recently published an extensive article. "What's Lost as Handwriting Fades?" by Maria Konnikova, citing scientific research to support the benefits of writing by hand.

In part, the story states:

When the children composed text by hand, they not only consistently produced more words more quickly than they did on a keyboard, but expressed more ideas. And brain imaging in the oldest subjects suggested that the connection between writing and idea generation went even further. When these children were asked to come up with ideas for a composition, the ones with better handwriting exhibited greater neural activation in areas associated with working memory — and increased overall activation in the reading and writing networks.

 Not everyone in the article puts as much importance on handwriting, but most of the research suggests great benefits from handwriting.

It's an interesting article that, while not about letterwriting, complements many of the things letter writers are interested in. Take a look at the complete article!

Mike Myers stamp

Mike Myers on the CBS Sunday Morning Show

According to the CBS Sunday Morning show, comedian/actor/filmmaker Mike Myers of "Saturday Night Live" and "Austin Powers" fame will be featured on a Canada Post stamp. On the segment that aired Sunday, June 1, it looked like CBS briefly showed a picture of the new stamp. But, I can't find any other news or images about it online. And, CBS doesn't seem to have a video of the full segment loaded up. But, you can read a story version of the interview online. They talk about the stamp at the end of the story.

Although the story and some comments I've seen online indicate there are no other people on Canadian stamps besides Queen Elizabeth II and Mike Myers, a quick look at Canada Post reveals that to be untrue. There seem to be several other people on Canadian stamps.

Update: Thanks to James who posted a link to the Sunday Morning Show's Google+ page, we can get a good look at that stamp (see the embedded file below):
 

Letter to a Cat

According to an article on the Houston Chronicle's website, Rice University successfully recruited a high school football player by sending a letter to his cat. The Chronicle reports that the letter read:

“As you know we’re trying to convince J.T. Rice is the place for him. I know you’d like to keep him close so he can feed you and change the litter box. Please help us to get him to choose us. Paw me if you have any questions.”

 See...the art of letter writing is not only not dead, it's getting more and more creative!

Happy letter writing!
 

War Letters

I've mentioned this before, but it's worthy of another look.

Andrew Carroll founded the Legacy Project,  a national, all-volunteer initiative that encourages Americans to honor and remember those who have served—or are currently serving—the United States in wartime by seeking out and preserving their letters and e-mails home, and has written and/or edited several books, including "War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars," "Behind the Lines: Powerful and Revealing American and Foreign War Letters---and One Man's Search to Find Them" and "Grace Under Fire: Letters of Faith in Times of War."

Then, "War Letters" inspired an "American Experience" episode on PBS. You can read excerpts from some of the letters on the PBS website. Especially interesting is the spot about Morton D. Elevitch, who fought in Germany in World War II and went on to become a writer. He founded a magazine, First Person, that featured personal narratives, including letters and diaries, according to the American Experience page.

Great idea for decorating with letters

This story can be found on the Dallas Morning News website.

I recently came across this Dallas Morning News article about Sarah Harmeyer's decorating style. The article, "Uptown Dallas homeowner balances glitz, glam with natural touches," was written by Jamie Knodel a couple of years ago. It describes the way the 30-something-year-old fund-raiser blends styles in furnishing her 1930s Uptown Dallas duplex.

One way she added an extremely personal touch was by framing copies of letters and hanging them on the wall. Read the entire story and see more photos on the Dallas Morning News' website.

What a delightful way to show your appreciation for the joy that letters can bring into your life!