Pen and *gasp* paper

I'm having really good fun with my FEAT Trade, where people can trade me anything they want to and in return they receive a FEAT-branded flash drive (with green light!) on which all videos from past FEAT events are loaded.

The trades have all been totally different and each is special and thoughtful.

One of the early trades (I'm on six trades so far and I see I've got a post office slip for what I assume will be #7) came with a lengthy hand-written letter. Oh my goodness - what a beautiful thing. I haven't received a chatty handwritten letter for a very long time and it was such a treat. So, I've taken to writing letters - pen and paper letters - back to each trader.

Over the weekend I went to the shops to buy some writing paper. I've got plain white printer paper only. I found no writing paper at CNA. Nothing at Pick 'n Pay either. I bought a fairly plain, pastel-coloured, lined, A5 writing pad from a specialist stationer. This is pretty much all they had in the letter-writing category. The market for paper for hand-written letters is next to zero - his main customers for writing paper are the old folks from the old-age home across the road.

I am so enjoying sending back hand-written letters. The only time I write is to scribble notes for myself. I haven't written a page of writing for another person for a while. Something I've learned over the past few days is that my handwriting has surely gotten worse and that it is very inconsistent and uneven - just out of practice.

In late primary school I had a pen pal. Liz - from Tzaneen. We lost contact when we got to high school. And my friend Allison and I used to write letters to each other - for years - from primary and into high school. Actually, she's on her way over now for tea. Penpals were such a thing in the 80s.

If you're ever inclined to want to write the odd handwritten letter, you're welcome to write to me. And I'll write back.

12 The Cedars, Field Close, Bedford Gardens, 2007. Johannesburg. South Africa.