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The ritual began, I think in grad school where after listening to DOWN YOUR WAY with Brian Johnston and reading The Guardian, I would head out on an awayday to some village to wander and make snaps.

During the wandering I would stop buy some postcards and, especially in winter find a pub to have a pint and write them after the sun set and before the return train to London. I would post them on the way to the station and when taking the night train back, think it neat that I was also on the train that my cards were on. I would obsess on the post mark, check the dates, run for first day issues and couldn’t understand why people insisted that I date them when the post office did it for me.

This continued to be part of travelling no matter where I was. It was the way that I stayed in touch with some people. I corresponded by postcard with an ex-Beloiter back in Maryland for some 25 years before running into her at the Ram’s Head. I would exchange postcards with another ex-Beloiter – there was something about Beloit and postcards - where the exchange became so fast and furious that we couldn’t even think up messages. She had the advantage as she would winter in Florida and thus had no shortage at all of weird cards. The ones from Annapolis were usually had from restaurants and bars.

At Goldsmiths’ we used postcards to communicate about the next class meetings and had set up an etiquette – no museum cards no reproductions of paintings they had to be the John Hinde type picture postcard. This continued after we finished the course.

I would try to choose the postcards carefully – but wouldn’t spend more than 10p in GB and 25¢ in North America. I'd look for the quantity price. Suitable for framing postcards weren’t interesting at all. I would find that after all my deliberations, I would choose the incorrect amount for some, those that I liked when they were on the rack weren’t as interesting when I was writing them. I would buy them with certain people in mind and found that there was a better match on further reflection.

In Sewanee, thinking that this would be a perfect environment for their writing, stirlings, quickly before I got the caffeine shakes, I went looking for some. In 1998 there were som great ones – of the university and the surrounding area, even think that I found one of the airport on the other side of US 41A.

This time it was all religious except for one of Stirling’s and I realised that this part of travel had gone by the wayside. Thinking back I tried to see when the decline became so pronounced that it had really stopped being a habit.

I did notice that it was harder to find postcards – the last time in Baltimore I only got them at BWI/Marshall although the Natty Boh shop had them – I am sure that Horror Place had them. I also found it harder to find stamps. I do remember looking for them, though. I think that I bought some in Burlington Vermont. I simply didn’t remember it being such an effort.

I realise that with the rest of the world post cards are dead as there are e-mails, digital cameras and…blogs, I thought that I was pretty much immune to modern technology and had it pretty much under control.

It seems that I found that I am wrong, those Sewanee picture postcards are around the house somewhere awaiting to be written.