I think I must have written on this topic before. I've certainly thought a lot about it, since writing letters was such a big part of my early life before disappearing entirely with the advent of email.
It is early morning in Merida, Mexico as I listen to the birds, the bit of traffic going by, the psychotic dogs next door. If it were 1986 instead of 2026 and I had this quiet time sitting alone by an open window, I would "catch up on correspondence," as we used to say.
Writing letters to family and friends, first answering those owed an overdue response before writing to a favorite who I know would appreciate my random thoughts and updates.
Today, I would write to my mom about the grocery-shopping routine. How there is no mercado in this neighborhood; not even a fruteria--one of those small stores with fresh fruits and vegetables just around the corner.
But there is a very nice Bodega Aurrora a fifteen-minute walk from my house. The Bodega is a fairly nice supermarket run by Wal-mart, and this is one of the nicest I've seen in Mexico, with an excellent produce section. I go every day, because I need a walk anyway and because I can't buy any more than I can comfortably carry back home in my shopping bags.
I would tell her what's in season. Mangoes! I can buy my favorite pear-shaped yellow variety in great quantity for a good price.
Swiss chard, which I love and which my parents always grew in their garden. I don't know what the Spanish word is for it, but it is now in abundance and very cheap. Beets, broccoli and cabbage, always in season apparently, since they're always around at a decent price.
Mother would want to know what I've been eating. The usual, Mom. Fruit for breakfast, usually mango. But yesterday I had a smoothie with frozen fruit to make it thick and refreshing after a hot walk. Strawberries, bananas, and mamey blended together with strawberry and orange Zuco.
The mamey fruit is smooth and creamy like an avocado, very sweet and delicious in a smoothie to thicken it up. Like the mango it's not always in season, but now it is.
Mom, for lunch I had a big salad on top of a sweet potato with spicy black beans. The sweet potatoes they call camote, and although, like the white potatoes, they are usually available, the price and quality vary. I couldn't eat all my lunch, so I finished it off at dinner with a side of steamed broccoli.
My mom was always interested in what people ate, and her letters never failed to include her meals of the week.
Oh, and she also liked to know the weather. She would be very interested to know that right now in Mexico, it is the rainy season with huge downpours that flood the streets. Today rain is forecast by noon. If I want to do a shopping walk before it rains, I need to get out early.
And of course, this is often how a letter closed: "I need to get ready for the day and do this or that important task, so I will say goodbye for now." Love, Karen
Writing letters was a hug part of my first 35 years of my life. But it's coming back into my world again this year because my best friend since kindergarten has dementia (who lives in a different state) can't a computer for email anymore. So we started exchanging snail mail letters again. I'm sure your mother really appreciates your letters.
ReplyDeleteThat's so nice that you write normal letters to your friend. Do you think they will ever come back into style? My mom did love getting letters from all her daughters. She saved them, and after she passed away, we got them back.
DeleteIt is a sadness that letter-writing is a dying art. Emails seem so impersonal and texts even more so. Even greetings cards are being phased out, it seems.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a huge loss. Letter-writing was part of civilized living.
DeleteGreat letters are a part of understanding history and our foundations. Where would we be without the letters of our founding fathers? We understand their intentions far better than the official texts they created. We get to know our own mothers and fathers from the letters they left.
ReplyDeleteThey are an art form. They are literature and where many of us first learned how to write for a reader.
DeleteLetter-writing ... well, nostalgic. ... That was very much the norm till the late 1990s. During that decade, 'long distance telephone calls', what here in India used to be called Straight Trunk Dialling, started slowly invading the letter-writing space, until emails took over completely.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend, Henry, in New Castle in the northeast England, who is in his late 70s. He has to email ID, and no modern messaging apps. The only person to whom I still write letters is Henry. I received one from him last week, and in a couple of days, I will be posting my reply.
I suppose there are a few Henry's left in our world. I wish there were more. Personally, I don't know any but wish I did. When you write your letter back to Henry, please send him my regards for his health and happiness.
DeleteI still write letters to my brother and a few friends who I exchange cards and stickers with.
ReplyDeleteI admit I don't write letters anymore but I do send thank you cards - also a lost art.
ReplyDeleteSince the advent of e-mail, letter-writing has gone out of fashion.
ReplyDeleteAnd that makes me sad.
If the post office wasn't charging 65-75 cents per stamp, maybe letter-writing would still be a thing.
ReplyDeleteI know! It's ridiculous. Plus they lose so much mail along the way with no real recourse to find it or get your money back.
DeleteMamey fruit - I have never seen that in one of our grocery stores! I did look on Amazon and they do carry Zuko. I may order some! I miss writing and receiving real letters. I do still send hand written thank you notes.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoyed writing and loved sending letters to family and friends. Nothing like getting a 'real' letter in the box. A 'red letter day' if you'll pardon the pun. I am intrigued by this mamey fruit and love to eat mango.
ReplyDeleteMango. Yum. Writing to your mom, I love that. For mine, she'd wanna know the prices. She's gone now however her thrifty mindset lives on within me. Wishing you a yummy weekend.
ReplyDeleteI always want to know the prices too!
DeleteAt home, I haven't written a letter probably since my last letter-writing aunt passed away in 2003. At work, I don't remember my last business letter. I do still write complaint letters at home from time to time. Letter writing is a dying art. I so enjoyed your letter to your late Mom, describing your recent meals.
ReplyDelete