What Did You Call Me?

    Here in Hoonah we recently had a new postmaster assigned to us. Frankly, I didn't see why we needed one. Joyce Skafelstad, a gal who had previously been the magistrate for a number of years here, was filling in and she was doing a spectacular job. However, for reasons I can't comprehend, the powers that be felt that we needed an official postmaster, so we got one. Fortunately, the person they chose was a perfect fit for Hoonah. His name is Mark Smith and he has proven himself to be very well suited for the job and the community. In a relatively short time, he's gotten to know everyone and his been involved in a number of extra- curricular activities around town. He's joined the bird watching group that meets on Saturday, a Tuesday night jazz band, a group that gets together to play canasta at one of the local homes and at least one night a week he's busy carving a Tlingit paddle up at the Hoonah Indian Association building. Apparently he likes to stay busy. He's a very pleasant fellow and has a great sense of humor, something that really comes in handy both in working for the government and with the public. Throw in the fact that we live in a rain forest where it's cloudy, gloomy and stormy so much of the time and being able to laugh readily is an added benefit. I was speaking to him a few weeks ago, and mentioned that I like to collect stamps. Not like a professional or a really avid collector might, but some stamps just stand out, and I like to hang on to them. It was then that he told me that I was a philatelist. Not a fatalist, or a Philistine or feminist, but a philatelist. The word almost sounded obscene. Being a philatelist doesn't sound like something you would want to be associated with. Sounds like something you would be ashamed to admit. "Go hang out with the rest of your pervert buddies you philatelist!" Fortunately, that's the official name given to stamp enthusiasts. I can't really call myself a collector I don't suppose. There isn't any real rhyme or reason to what I collect. I just find certain stamps attractive and want to hang on to them. Some years ago when I went in to the post office to buy stamps, I would ask the counter person if they had anything fancy. I didn't want to send a letter with a stamp that anyone would have, that would be boring, so they started showing me what was available. There are some pretty cool things out there. I ended up having to buy two books of stamps, one to mail letters, and one to save. Over the years I've picked up stamps depicting Star Wars, Harry Potter, comic book super heroes from both the Marvel and DC comic franchises, muscle cars, cars with tail fins, historical stamps and other odds and ends that I found interesting. I recently purchased some stamps with a picture of the moon on them. They're round and are for international postage. Mark mentioned that all international postage utilizes round stamps. He also said that the Batman stamps that I have depict the various stages that Batman was drawn down through the years. There are some round Batman stamps on the sheet that Mark said were the only domestic round ones printed. He's a wealth of information. In looking through the philatelic magazine, which was put out by the USPS, I see a number of other stamps that will be available this year. I hope to be able to grab on to some of them; there are some real beauties. I guess when the stamp has run it's course for the year, that's it. The post office doesn't sell them any more. I suppose I could check out E bay for any that I can't get locally, but I'd prefer to buy them at the original price. My only issue now is who do I give them to when my time is done. I don't want to give them to one of the grand kids and then have them need to send off a payment for the electric bill and not want to go to the post office so they rip off a forever stamp from the collection and go on their happy way. No doubt I would turn over in my grave. In the meantime I guess I'll just keep scarfing up these little wonders of art and let the bidding begin after I'm gone.